tizens on the planet have gained access to tele- communications in one form or another. Even more startling is the rate at which wireless telephony has been accepted. In less than ten years the wireless telephone has gone from being the play toy of spies and millionaires to becoming the leading symbol of youth, af- fluence, and modernity in societies all over the world. Worldwide Acceptance of Wireless Figure 1-4 shows the 1999 subscription rates for countries in Eu- rope. Surprisingly, Italy, though far from being the largest European country in population, is by far the biggest European purveyor of wireless devices with over 20 millions subscribers (and the number is still growing). Italy Finland Germany Austria Norway France Belgium Spain Greece Sweden Denmark Turkey Switzerland Netherlands Ireland Portugal Wireless Subscribers Figure 1-4: Wireless in Europe Europe is not the only country with wireless mania. In China, wire- less providers have experienced growth rates of up to one million new subscribers added in one month. Japan, Korea, and Taiwan each check in as one of the largest users of wireless technology in Asia. The U.S. is today's leading user of wireless phones with over 86 millions subscribers at the end of 1999, and Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and Argentina are not to be left out of the world's top twenty. Even the Middle East has its contenders with Israel and Egypt participat- ing with millions of subscribers. eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook The Fickle Consumer With all of this activity in the telco sphere, it is no wonder that wire- less providers believe that their markets have SO much growth ahead of them that churn will not be a problem for many years to come. However, consumers that quickly fall in love with your new tech- nology can just as quickly fall out of love again. The Regulators If you find that you are not dealing with much competition in your marketplace, then you are pretty much guaranteed that the regulators will address that deficiency. The economic anal