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The Sunday Times


January 02, 2005

How technology will change the way we do business
Christopher Price looks at the gadgets, services and methods of working we will have to get to grips with this year


Wireless and broadband
Short-range broadband wireless communication hotspots, so-called wi-fi technology, which began arriving in airports and hotels in 2004, will blossom in 2005, taking in high streets and shopping malls. The same technology is entering the office, with Cisco, the American networks company, prominent among those offering wireless networking equipment. Wireless broadband intranets — closed office networks — offering fast and almost limitless interconnectivity in the workplace, will become widespread in the next two or three years. Look out, too, for wi-fi’s big brother, wi-max. This new technology standard gives broadband wireless connectivity over a range of 30 miles. It could revolutionise communications in rural areas, enabling telecoms operators to bypass BT’s copper wires between the local exchange and the customer’s premises.The first British trials are due to start in north Kent this month. And with technology giants such as Intel, Cisco and Nokia behind the movement, wi-max looks set to become a significant force in telecoms.
5 Internet telephony If there is one sure thing for 2005, it is the rise of that awkward acronym Voip (voice over internet protocol), or more simply, telephone calls over the internet.

VOIP
Voip will be a revolution in the telecoms market. At its basic level, internet telephony involves the breaking down of voice calls, in the same way that data are dismantled for online contact, to be sent over the internet and then reassembled at the receiver’s end. Data calls have no way of being billed — thus making Voip free. Established telecoms groups will lose business and need to find new sources of revenue. In-Stat, an American research firm, predicts that the number of Voip lines in the United States will rise from 8m in 2004 to 16m in 2008, and grow exponentially from there. BT recently announced a £9 billion upgrade of its network from its analogue roots to a full Voip delivery system. Rising swiftly to meet this challenge are the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which see a huge opportunity in getting their customers to switch to internet telephony. Expect therefore, telecoms giants, like BT and Cable & Wireless, to redefine themselves as solutions providers, promising all things to all users in a communications world muddied by new frontiers and fresh players.


2 of the 10 that caught my eye….