In the previous chapter, we discussed the major business issues and challenges facing the wireless industry. In this chapter, we focus our attention on technology issues such as limitations of Moore's Law, spectrum issues in the USA, the WWAN vs WLAN debate, security, transcoding, roaming and billing for services.

Technology development and the laws

Both the computing and communications industries are impacted by the various laws, theorems, and principles that have become part and parcel of the scientific community. Two laws that are most commonly used to predict progress with respect to the wireless world are Moore's Law and Shannon's Law. Let us discuss these two briefly to see how they have shaped technology development.

Moore's Law

In an article titled, “Cramming more components onto integrated circuits” for Electronics magazine, young Gordon Moore of Shockley Semiconductor presented an idea that the development of smaller transistors at lower unit production costs would translate into exponential progress in silicon chip complexity at minimum cost. In other words, performance would double every 18 months. “Integrated circuits will lead to such wonders as home computers,” wrote Gordon Moore, “ … automatic controls for automobiles, and personal portable communications equipment.” The year was 1965, three years before he would co-found the largest silicon chip manufacturer now in existence – Intel. In 1965, chips could hold 60 transistors. Moore predicted that by 1975 as many as 65 000 transistors could be crammed onto a single chip.

The world's two fastest growing technology sectors – wireless communications and the Internet – are changing rapidly and dramatically. As we have discussed in previous chapters, not only are these two highly dynamic markets changing, they are also converging. Taken together, the changes pose significant challenges for both wireless and wireline service providers. But challenge also brings opportunity. Wireless operators are facing a substantial margin squeeze for their mobile voice services. Although the number of subscribers is increasing and traffic and overall usage are up, growing competition is driving prices down. To remain competitive and minimize “churn”, wireless operators must differentiate the services that they offer, and retain high-quality, revenue-generating subscribers.

The Internet explosion is changing the way consumers behave – from social communication, to making purchases online, to the way we receive news. And now, to meet the growing demands of mobile consumers, the Internet revolution is going wireless.

The convergence of these two technologies creates lucrative new revenue opportunities for wireless operators, service providers and content portals. This new open-market environment opens the door for new services, new partnerships and a new revenue model that will help operators retain their current end-users, attract new subscribers, and improve their bottom line.

The introduction of wireless Internet services is allowing operators dramatically to expand both their service and their revenue models. The operator's traditional revenue mix (primarily flat, monthly subscription fees) is changing in the Internet-driven world.

We have come a long way from the early 1980s when the first-generation analog cellular networks were deployed; cellular phones used to weigh more than a pound, looked ugly, and were considered the toys of only the elite. Fast forward to the present. There are already several successful deployments of third-generation (3G) digital wireless networks, the sleek cellular phones weigh less than a few ounces and are considered indispensable tools for common man worldwide. In this chapter, we will look at the technologies impacting the wireless world and lay out a framework of technologies that will become the basis of our discussions in future chapters. We will cover not only some of the core wireless technologies but also the computing and communications technologies that impact on the wireless world. Detailed discussion of these technologies is beyond the scope of the book; however, we provide a list of references for anyone interested in further research.

The pervasive computing landscape

One of the most fundamental transition that is in progress in the information world is the evolution of pervasive computing (also known as ubiquitous computing). Pervasive computing in a nutshell means access to any information, anytime, anywhere using any device and any network. It means empowering the end-user with unprecedented access to information and the ability to act on it. This transition has been fostered by the ever-growing convergence of the computing and communications industries with consumer electronics and content and services.

Introduction

The significance of identity in GSAs

In the ongoing processes of globalization, transformations in individual and group identities are a subject of much contemporary debate. Giddens (1991) writes that while globalization can be understood at an institutional level, changes that occur as a result of it can directly impact at the individual level. He writes: ‘transformations in self-identity and globalisation are the two poles of the dialectic of the local and the global’ (1991: 32). Thus, a distinctive feature of contemporary life is this increasing interconnection between the two extremes of globalizing influences on the one hand and personal dispositions on the other. Evolution of organizational identity goes hand in hand with transformations of individual identities, which has a strong association with the ‘rootedness’ or a sense of ‘place’ that individuals experience (Godkin 1980). As will be discussed in chapter 6 on the dialectics of space and place, ongoing social transformations impact the sense of place with manifold influences on individual identity. Castells (1997) also emphasizes the dialectical relation between the net that metaphorically represents a universal instrumentalism based on the network logic of society and the self that is rooted in historic, particularistic identities that primarily are socially and geographically place-dependent. Individuals respond to the relentless pressure of feeling uprooted in the globalizing world through what Castells describes as the ‘power of identity’.

Introduction

Global software alliances (GSAs) are work configurations in present-day processes of globalization. GSAs involve the restructuring of work arrangements across time and space based on the underlying assumption that the experience of the ‘here’ and ‘now’ of software development can be largely superseded by action at a distance. GSAs represent the state of the art in software development because of the inherent potential they provide organizations for standardizing, measuring and coordinating distributed resources, including HR and resources of time and space. GSAs reflect Mowshowitz's (1994) vision of a future paradigm of management based on the principle that the ‘best’ and ‘cheapest’ HR can be ‘switched’ as required and assembled from around the globe and coordinated through the use of ICTs and standardized methodologies and processes. These underlying principles provide the basis for popular claims that software development can ‘follow the sun’ with round-the-clock operation by exploiting time-zone differences allowing cycle-time reductions in handling work between sites located in different parts of the world. Such a vision of GSAs as an arena in which the ‘switching of resources’ takes place is no longer merely a speculative phenomenon of the future, but one that is being actively attempted by firms globally, with varying degrees of success.

The aim of this chapter is to understand the mutual interconnection between processes of globalization and global software work (GSW).

Introduction

So far we have talked about various aspects of wireless industry – its peculiarities, the challenges and issues with business and technologies, case studies and a glimpse at where the industry is heading. For this chapter, we sat down with several industry leaders representing different segments of the value chain, operating in various parts of the world. Our interviewees have been around the industry for a long time and have witnessed the trials and tribulations of the wireless sector over the years. This chapter presents our one-on-one discussions with them on various aspects of the industry, their own organizations, and where they see the wireless industry in the future. We again thank our interviewees and their organizations for sharing their view and for their time for our project. The executives are:

• Mark Anderson, President Technology Alliance and Strategic News Service, LLC,

• Frank Yester, Vice President – Communications Lab, Motorola,

• Jon Prial, Vice President, Pervasive Computing, IBM,

• Steve Wood, Chairman and CEO, Wireless Services Corporation, and

• Mark Tapling, President and CEO, Everypath.

One-on-one with Mark Anderson

Mark Anderson is president of Technology Alliance Partners (TAP), and of the Strategic News Service(tm) LLC. TAP was founded in 1989, and provides trends and marketing alliance assistance to firms leading the convergence of telecom and computing. Mark is a Seybold Fellow. He is the founder of two software companies and of the Washington Software Alliance Investors' Forum, Washington's premier software investment conference, and has participated in the launch of many software startups.

Introduction

The set of case studies discussed in this book emphasizes the significant complexity inherent in GSAs, and the need for theoretical approaches that allow us to go ‘behind’ the surface of the phenomenon and build insights that help answer questions about ‘Why does the GSA process unfold a particular way?’ In the cases discussed, the complexity of GSAs has been described as a multiplicity of inter-connected influences including aspects of industry, national economy, organizational strategies and the desires, expectations and mobility of individual developers operating in a global marketplace. The increased interest in GSAs has introduced new actors into ongoing debates on immigration and foreign policy. While firms may argue for GSAs based on economic and resource considerations, worker associations and unions criticize the potential danger of local job losses and argue instead for the retraining of unemployed adult populations. Government policy makers, especially in developing countries, face the complex task of balancing the need for fostering growth, which inevitably requires the active engagement of private sector investments that GSA firms provide, with the protection of rights of marginalized groups.

Beck (2000) uses the metaphor of ‘Brazilianization’ to describe the global employment market in the West which he considers to be increasingly characterized by unemployment and underemployment. Writing from primarily a European perspective, Beck paints a rather bleak picture of the world of work, and tends to downplay how global relocation of work from countries such as Germany can lead to opportunities in other parts of the world, such as India.

Introduction

In this chapter, we provide a broad overview of the initiation, expansion and stabilization of GlobTel's GSA programme in India that includes the four relationships with Witech, MCI, ComSoft and SKA (all pseudonyms). Two of these firms (MCI and Witech) were large and established Indian software houses, while ComSoft was a start-up company established by Indian technocrats with Silicon Valley roots, and SKA was a software firm established by a medium-sized business house with limited experience in software development. MCI was based in Mumbai, SKA in Delhi and the other two in Bangalore. The relation with SKA was short-lived owing to perceived business incompatibilities with GlobTel, and after two years Softsys replaced SKA as the fourth partner.

The overview of GlobTel's programme is based broadly on the interviews taken with senior managers of GlobTel in North America, their expatriate managers in India and with senior members of the staff in one of their labs in the UK. Background information has also been obtained from the company Website and newsletters. The overview is at a macro level, encompassing the four relationships, and not restricted to any particular GSA. The overview is at a rather ‘factual’ level of details of key events in the relationship, including a historical reconstruction of events prior to 1996 when our research started, and then an account of key events as the research progressed from 1996 to 2000. This overview provides the backdrop for chapters 4–6, where three of the individual cases are theoretically analysed.

In the past two chapters, we focused our attention on issues and challenges facing our industry. In this chapter, we will discuss four unique case studies that show how wireless technology can be used to enhance productivity, improve revenues, or gain mindshare.

Southern Wines and Spirits

Problem description

Like a lot of industries, the wines and spirits industry is in the midst of consolidation. Distributors are searching for ways to cut costs while maintaining customer relationships crucial to increasing market share and revenue. Southern Wines and Spirits of California Inc. (SWS), the single largest distributor of wine, spirits, beer and other non-alcoholic beverages in the USA, saw an opportunity to save by automating its sales processes. Five thousand reps in the field were generating half a million sheets of paperwork per week. They placed orders in a “Brick” that sent data back to the home office through a 300 bps (remember, that is bits per second) acoustic coupler. The error rate was high, and delays in orders were an all too common occurrence. This information was fed into the enterprise system, a group of about five IBM AS/400® servers and an IBM S/390 enterprise server.

How wireless was used to solve the problem

“We knew there had to be a better way,” said Steve Borrows, VP of Spirits at SWS, which represents more than 300 suppliers and nearly 6000 individual brands. “Once information came into our systems we had applications that worked.

Significance of standardization

In this chapter, we analyse the GlobTel–Witech GSA relationship using the perspective of standardization, which refers to the socio-technical processes through which various standards are implemented in organizations. The standardization perspective is significant since many firms with global operations base their strategy on the assumption that there are more similarities than differences in the world. Coordination of these global activities is then carried out through central control from headquarters, based on standardized products, processes and practices. Standardization becomes a key feature to build and sustain a relationship by homogenizing operations to the extent that the outsourcing and outsourced firms cannot be distinguished from each other. In software development, the role of standardization has in the past been discussed in the context of ‘internationalization’ of software packages (Taylor 1992; O'Donnel 1994). The purpose of internationalization is to develop and market packages in a ‘mass-production’ mode. The analysis of standards has not been conducted in the context of the processes by which GSW is carried out. Also, the role of standards in the internationalization of software has largely assumed that through appropriate language-translation strategies, effective global products can be developed and cultural differences taken into account. For example, Taylor (1992) writes:

The fundamental purpose of national government is to protect and improve the public welfare. Governments seek to defend national security (in the broadest sense), work to improve the economic well-being of their citizens, and protect public health, safety, and natural resources. Technological advance plays a vital role in each of these domains. The government, therefore, has a strong interest in encouraging technological innovation. But exactly what should this role be? How can the government be involved most effectively in the development and implementation of new technologies? What policy instruments can and should the government use to intervene in the innovation process?

The pace and direction of innovation depends on the research and development (R&D) activity of the economy. As Figure 15.1 shows, each year U.S. industry and government both devote large amounts of resources to R&D.

The R&D activity reported in these statistics is only part of the innovation process, of course. As we have seen, inventing and developing technology is just one of the steps involved. Invention must be followed by implementation, which is a complex, uncertain, and costly process. Our focus in this chapter is primarily on R&D, especially the R&D that is funded by the U.S. government at a current rate of roughly $75 billion per year. By any measure, this is a lot of money. But is it too much? Or not enough?

Natural gas will be the world's most important source of new primary energy supplies during the next two decades. Consumption of the fuel worldwide is projected to double by the year 2020. In the United States, natural gas is currently the second most important fuel after coal, accounting for almost a quarter of all energy consumed, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that domestic consumption in 2020 will be 50% higher than today. Much of this growth will occur in the electricity sector. More than 90% of additions to U.S. electricity generating capacity over the next decade will be gas-fired. Natural gas is also an attractive residential and commercial heating source (most new single-family homes use gas heating) as well as an important industrial fuel.

The emergence of natural gas as the fuel of choice for electricity generation in the United States stands in sharp contrast to the situation less than two decades ago. After vigorous growth earlier in the twentieth century, U.S. gas consumption peaked in the early 1970s and continued to decline until the middle part of the 1980s (see Figure 10.1). During part of this period, the use of natural gas by electric utilities was actually prohibited by the federal government on the grounds that it should not be “wasted” by combustion in utility boilers but rather conserved for more important uses such as heating homes and as feedstock for chemical plants. In this chapter, we will examine the reasons for this striking reversal.

In the academic world, technology-oriented students mainly learn in “stove pipes” defined by established disciplines in the natural and social sciences and in engineering. This compartmentalization is understandable because the foundations of the disciplines are most easily learned separately and best taught by specialists. One must learn calculus, chemical kinetics, microeconomics, or system control before being able to address the complex relationships between these subjects that may arise in practical applications of technology. The result, however, is that students learn about the pieces of a problem rather than the whole. Moreover the learning is typically a solitary activity, and rarely depends upon the cooperation of a group.

Yet real problems are an inseparable mix of technological, economic, environmental, and political factors. As we have seen, successful application of technology frequently requires the synthesis of all these considerations. When this synthesis is absent or is not credible, the technology will fail to live up to its potential and may fail completely. And successful syntheses require individuals to work together to bring different skills to bear on the problem. We teach individual disciplines, but the resolution of most real problems requires that different disciplines be jointly brought to bear. It is as if people were taught how to play the individual musical instruments of an orchestra and then expected immediately to perform a symphony.

Students understand that they will face these sorts of problems in the course of their professional careers.