Nortel CEO says wireless data to increase
October 22, 1998 02:32 AM
ATLANTA, Oct. 21 (Reuters) - Wireless telephones will soon carry more data messages than voice messages, just as wired telephones now do, the chief executive of Nortel Networks (Northern Telecom Ltd) CA:NTL NT , said Wednesday.
Describing wireless telephones as "the new frontier," the executive, John Roth, forecast that, in 2005, some 70 percent of wireless telephone messages would consist of data, compared with 2 percent in 1996.
"Wireless data today is still a pretty small part," Roth said in an address at the annual Networld+Interop trade show, which features telecommunications equipment for networking.
Use of wireless telephones for data transmission will rise dramatically as cost-per-minute for wireless calls drops dramatically, Roth said.
"Four cents a minute is probably not that far off," Roth said.
Convenience will be another factor, said Dave House, Nortel Networks president, who appeared jointly with Roth.
"Why should I have a wire on any phone?" he said. "I want to be untethered."
He foresees a time when wireless telephone users will be able to make local calls at home or at work at no charge by, in effect, becoming their own service providers on those premises.
The moment users step off those premises, however, they would be subject to charges by an actual provider when they operate their phones.
Roth said the merger seven weeks ago of Toronto-based Nortel and California-based Bay Networks was working smoothly. Roth had headed Nortel, primarily an equipment manufacturer, while House was CEO of Bay Networks.
"Dave and I are highly compatible," Roth said.
Compatibility exists, he added, "not only at our level but at all other levels."
REUTERS
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