Can You Hear Him Now?

Calling the wireless vision an "audacious" one, he then went on to admit that "our inability to manage the vision has cost the wireless industry some credibility, certainly on Wall Street." But to answer "skeptics who wonder if the wireless future is overpromised," he cited the 150 million users in the United States, which is little over half the population, and the 1.25 billion cell phone users worldwide as evidence of an industry running strong and with room to grow.

Breaking down the market by segments, he said that device makers in the past three years have "held up their end of the market" and that "these guys are ahead of the network and app guys." He urged device makers to promote interoperability and to promote open systems. "The future is big enough for all of us," Zeglis said.

He acknowledged that bandwidth is "maybe not great. Right now, there are bursts of 200 Kbps and that "new, faster speeds are promised." The financial realities of bandwidth, he said, are that more bandwidth from carriers will be forthcoming as their ability to earn money on the previous expansion warrants it. "It's just basic business," he said.

He reserved his lowest grade for applications. Zeglis blamed providers who needed to pick up the pace on interoperability. "The more people who can reach each other, the better for everybody," he said. "It is insane for any of us to drag our feet. This is the golden goose." He also believes that rates need to be simplified, calling for broad-based industry partnerships. "We need a veritable army to sell rate plans. We can do a lot better, and we need to."

Later, Zeglis moved on with his predictions for the wireless market. Calling them sure things, he forecast more customers, 75 percent of America, in the near future. "Machines like vendor machines and auto engines will drive it," he said. Zeglis said as carriers make wireless affordable, they concurrently will have to invest new business models for margins. He predicted more wireless messaging, more voice-enabled applications and more business applications going mobile.

Also, location-based services will grow. "We will help you know where your children are and where your workforce is," he said. "Wireless is your communications home. It will be where you want to screen your in-comings. And where you want to check your e-mail."