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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DaveMG who wrote (18762)	11/25/1998 9:50:00 AM
From: Jeff Vayda	Respond to of 152472

All: I submit this URL so all you can compare your rate plans and such. wirelessdimension.com (written up in Newsweek this week or last) Jeff Vayda

To: DaveMG who wrote (18762)	11/25/1998 9:54:00 AM
From: DaveMG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

High-Bandwidth Hero! How Greedy Microsoft Will Rescue Us From Slow Net Access Jesse Berst, Editorial Director ZDNet AnchorDesk Monday I revealed the sad story behind slow access: The cable and phone companies have (greedily) dragged their feet -- and left us about two years behind schedule for high-bandwidth at home. Click for more. Ah, but there is a solution on the horizon. Wireless access may bust the last-mile blockade once and for all -- but not for the reason you might think. Here's what's going on. For its own capitalistic reasons, Microsoft wants universal broadband access at $40 or less per month. It also wants to sell Windows NT and BackOffice to network operators. So it came up with a way to create a wireless "service bureau." Called WirelessKnowledge, this partnership with Qualcomm will let other carriers buy wholesale access and put their own brand on it. Click for more. The partnership is producing: An infrastructure (for billing, security, management, etc.) so it doesn't have to be reinvented each time. A technology agnostic platform, to end the alphabet soup of competing, incompatible wireless standards A broad base of tools and developers A viable business model The last point is the key. Phone and cable companies are loathe to jump into the access game. They think it will be a commodity business. But if Microsoft can show them how to build businesses on top of the access infrastructure, they can afford to move ahead. And that's just what Microsoft has done, outlining opportunities in IP telephony, Web hosting, mobile services, enhanced TV, advertising and electronic commerce. That's why I said wireless may rescue us in an unexpected way. You see, high-speed wireless won't be here for several more years despite everything Microsoft and others are doing. But the business models Microsoft has conceived will work today in the wired world. In other words, it will be the phone and cable companies who move ahead first. If they do that -- and I predict they will, starting early next year -- then we'll finally have true competition. And we'll finally have an end to the blockade that has kept you and me from getting fast Internet access at reasonable prices. Feel sorry for the cable and phone companies? Or is this their comeuppance? Use the TalkBack button below to share your opinion. I'll post responses beneath this column. You can also join my Berst Alerts forum to discuss this issue with other AnchorDesk readers. zdnet.com