Kurt Hanson is working from the Strategic Media Research offices today. To reach him, please call 312 726-8300, or e-mail him here.

BY RALPH SLEDGE
It would be wise to take a look at the up-and-coming wireless technologies that might be used in the near future, rather than just closing one's eyes and saying "it's coming."

A recent article from The Motley Fool (here), which gives a pretty good brief rundown on wireless protocols in the U.S., speaks of 3G technologies, which might be coming soon. According to the article, most people currently use "2G" technology, also known as Digital or Digital Cellular and the like. This gives us speeds in the range of 14.4 - 19.2kbs range. 3G, supposedly, would give us much faster speeds -- up to 2.4mbps.

This would certainly be enough bandwidth for high-quality radio streams, but it's doubtful that the speed revolution would be satisfied. 2.4mbps is faster than my current cable modem connection -- but there's a technology out there that, if it manages to get past some FCC concerns, would be much faster.

The technology is called Ultrawideband, and it's been in use for some years already by the military, initially for radar that could see past tree leaves and through walls. A recent Chicago Tribune article (here) explains the technology in fair layman's terms, and if what they say is to be believed, a quantum leap in wireless broadband should be expected.

"Think of it as Bluetooth (the wireless computing technology maker) on steroids" says Martin Rofheart, chief executive at XtremeSpectrum, quoted in the Tribune article. This company already has "a prototype [of what, it doesn't say] that transmits data at 50 megabits per second, and it will soon demonstrate a model that operates at 100 megabits a second..." If this is true, then this wireless would operate at 50-100 times the speed of a fast cable modem!

Even if ultrawideband doesn't meet this speed -- even if it only gets 10 megabits per second -- it would still be as fast, via wireless protocols, as many corporate networks. This opens up the other possibility -- streaming DVD-quality video over wireless connections. That makes Ultrawideband look even more promising than what many companies still messing with wires are offering.

Another reason that ultrawideband is significant is that the technology seems to already exist: indeed, most of the articles I could find about the technology make more of a flap about the controversy over the possible interference the technology would cause existing radio signals, as opposed to the feasibility of making the technology work. (CONTINUED BELOW)

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(CONTINUED FROM ABOVE)
An article in Computerworld (here) from May 2000 says: "...the FCC said it will only approve widespread use of UWB if ongoing tests determine that it doesn't interfere with other systems. The FCC is especially concerned about the US Department of Defense's Global Positioning System (GPS), which is used by airlines around the world for navigation and by the military to direct 'smart' weapons."

The Tribune article, however, indicates that many people are leaning heavily on the FCC to figure out rules that would allow Ultrawideband's acceptance. The FCC has already allowed limited, experimental testing rights to a few companies, such as Time Domain, which is working to develop various UWB radar technologies.

A September CNet.com article (here) says of Time Domain: "The Alabama-based company is still in the early stages of the development of its technology, but it has attracted strong interest and investments from the likes of Sony, Qwest Communications International, Siemens and WorldCom."

Does this mean that soon, we'll all skip a step and make wires unnecessary? I don't think so: there will still be a need, at some level, for huge amounts of data to be pumped through fat pipes quickly -- and we'll still need wires for that.

As I see it, fast wires and fast wireless will not only coexist, but augment each other. A recent Wired article (here) talks about a former cable entrepreneur who's investing millions to build a residential fiber-optic network in several Southwestern town.

While this is a risky venture, I can't help but think that it makes a lot of sense. Fiber-optics are still the fastest way to get data from one point to another. And having a lot more of it will only increase the aggregate bandwidth available, helping to clear up many of the current bottlenecks that restrict the flow of data. And fiber-optics will increase bandwidth without using up valuable frequency, or producing huge amounts of (allegedly) brain-scrambling radiation.

If ultrawideband technology doesn't fall on its face in the near future for some reason, then it seems to me more likely that this is the technology that will bring the "wireless revolution" out of the crawling stage. 3G's 2.4 megabits is good, but it is just a step towards a much higher-bandwidth goal.

For all of the promises of wireless audio and video to come true, 10mbps is a minimum. Once the technology is adopted, then the speeds will only go up from there -- and that's when we'll start to see the promises kept.

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From the company press release: "FullAudio has appointed music industry veterans Michael Fischer and Thomas Leavens to the company's senior management team...

"As VP Content & Programming, Fischer will be responsible for the development, creation and acquisition of original music and editorial content for FullAudio. Fischer will also produce genre-specific music preview channels for the service, as well as custom subscription packages.

"Fischer served as Director of Programming at SW Network, a joint venture between Sony Software and Time Warner, where he spearheaded the launch of a 24 hour satellite radio format, created and developed online content and promotional strategies and a nationally syndicated radio program...

"Prior to joining FullAudio, Thomas Leavens was Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Platinum Entertainment, Inc., since the time of its start-up as a recording studio in 1992...

"Founded in April 1999, FullAudio is located in Chicago and New York, and is backed by leading venture capital firms and private investors, including Kettle Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and Venture Strategy Partners."

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The Washington, D.C.-based academic organization Broadcast Education Association has created the Broadcast and Internet Radio Division. The BEA hopes to attract scholars to join and contribute insights and research for students in this field. Prof. Michael C. Keith has been elected chairman of the division.

Since the BEA's founding in 1955, this is the first division devoted exclusively to radio.

New RAIN feature:
	"The Waiting Room" "Every day another amazing, horrifying, incredible, bizarre, breathtaking, strange, nauseating, and thoroughly morbid fact." Now if that weren't convenient enough, there's "Malady of the Month" and "Dark and Gruesome Links." Here, if you dare!
	"City of the Silent" For "lovers of cemeteries as cultural artifacts. Inside you will find articles that tell you how to do tombstone rubbings, chronologies, histories, calendars, glossaries, photo galleries, stories of people buried in San Francisco's city of the dead (Colma)..." Here.
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November 5-7	NAB European Radio Conference, Berlin
November 12-14	Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) "Broadcasting 2000: On-air / On-line," Calgary
Nov. 28-Dec. 1	Radio Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA, featuring a brand-new national study on Internet radio usage presented by Eric Rhoads & Kurt Hanson
February 1-4, 2001	RAB 2001. Details coming soon.