 of telephone calls in many countries, many subscribers use their mobile devices for chat-they rely on IM/SMS to stay in touch with their friends. The cost to send an SMS message is far cheaper than a phone call; so, in many cases, people use their mobile handsets exclu- sively to chat! This is what I love about telecommunications: When technology is applied to real human problems and challenges, magic happens. Wireless Today Perhaps no area of the greater telecommunications industry has been more fraught with misunderstanding and misdirection than wireless. Because of poor market positioning, blind reliance by service providers on "technology" as a synonym for "marketplace solution," capability promises that could not be delivered, and occasionally less than stellar customer service, wireless has become a symbol for much of what is per- ceived to be wrong with the telecommunications industry. The financials bear this out: The average wireless customer in the United States talked 50 percent more in 2001 than in 2000, but paid only 5 percent more-and 2002 through 2004 numbers reflect a continued trend as usage climbs and revenue declines. Usage is dramatically up, but average revenue per user (ARPU) is dramatically down-not a healthy picture. In the last 5 years, average ARPU has dropped from $65 to roughly $45. In 2001, the subscriber base for wireless grew 14 percent in the United States to roughly 177 million users. This amounted to a 63 percent market pene- tration rate, which will most likely grow to exceed 90 percent penetration by 2006. According to Pyramid Research, 13 million new subscribers joined the service ranks in 2003, a drop from 17 million in 2001 and 2002. Meanwhile, prices have dropped 10-15 percent, which has obvi- Downloaded from Digital Engineering Library @ McGraw-Hill (www.digitalengineeringlibrary.com) Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use as given at the website. Access Technologies Access Technologies ously led to difficul