If IP is Next Generation (cont'd)

Communications and Quality of Life
The magnitude of the changes already underway for users in the “real world” is staggering. Sitting in the heart of George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., one can see the now unfolding. Although this new hospital is wired for standard telephones, no one uses them. Every call witnessed in a three day period was made on a wireless phone. Students, faculty, and doctors walk the halls and down the street talking on cell phones and checking email on wireless devices.

To those waiting for patients coming out of surgery, the hospital issues pagers so people are not chained to the waiting room. This hospital even rents laptop computers for $14.95 per day with DVD players and loaded with applications. These connect to the Internet wirelessly as the entire hospital is WiFi enabled.

After determining that computers and wireless devices would not interfere with medical equipment, the hospital community has realized that access to the Internet, and the ability to use wireless communications applications, enhances quality of life for their patients. It's not only road warriors that benefit from ubiquitous applications – it's everyone. Given a reasonable price, there is great demand for the ability to compute and communicate anytime, anywhere, for any reason. The challenge in the communications industry is to deploy and support this totally new mode of communications.

If You’re Not With Us…
The industry is segmenting itself into two camps – those who support and actively promote disruptive technologies, and those who resist them. It is not completely clear that being first with new technology will make a company a winner, but resisting new technologies and forms of communication is a clear path to losing. Communications technologies beyond voice are not new anymore – they are mainstream and access to them is not a luxury for a large number of consumers, it is a requirement. New IP applications and technologies are not fads – they are here to stay, and there are more on the way.

The most important question carrier executives can ask today is whether their companies' mission statements are aimed at the 19 th or the 21 st century. Is the plan simply to be a “common carrier,” or will the company meet any communications need, any time, anywhere? The difference is that between the buggy-whip maker and the jet engine supplier – each works in propulsion, but one delivers a lot more power.

About the author:
Tom Wiencko is a professional consultant who has worked in the telecom industry for over 20 years. Mr. Wiencko is an expert in telecommunications technology, systems and business processes. As President of Wiencko & Associates, he has led projects for major carriers in a variety of areas, such as the first switch based real-time billing application, and has also managed large post-merger network integrations and technical consolidations. He can be reached at: tew@wiencko.com .

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