Annotated bibliography
The future of telephony
by Cindy Petterson
October 3, 2001

Belson, K. (2001, October 1). NTT DoCoMo introduces new generation cellphone service. The New York Times.

The largest mobile phone company in Japan, NTT DoCoMo introduced the world’s first third-generation cellphone on Monday, October 1. The new service is available only in Tokyo. 3G phones can download audio and video files on handsets and cost about $84 U.S. per month. Investors are not yet willing to make the investment for networks in the United States and Europe.

CAG pulls up Centre. (2001, August 4). The Statesman (India). [Retrieved from FT Asia Africa Intelligence Wire via Lexis-Nexis].

This article focuses on the future of telephony in rural India. MARR (Multi-Access Radio Relay) technology was selected for use in 75 percent of India’s 80,000 village public telephones. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India was critical of the government’s selection of MARR over more reliable technologies. An alternative may be Time Division Multiple-Access and Wireless in Local Loop for village public telephones however ,there is already a significant supply of the old equipment.

Fitzpatrick, M. (2001, September 13). Online: Mobile matters: It’s up to you, Tokyo: Michael Fitzpatrick on the phone that will test 3G’s future. The Guardian (London). Guardian Online Pages, p. 6.

Harmon, A. (2001, September 24). A nation challenged: The meetings; Remote rendezvous. The New York Times. Business/Financial Desk.

Since the terrorist attack on the United States, businesses are weighing options for alternatives to travel. Instead, business travelers are turning to videoconferencing, teleconferencing and Internet-based collaboration tools.

Hong Kong awards four 3G licenses. (2001, September 19). Channel NewsAsia. Media Corporation of Singapore Pte Ltd.

The only four bidders for third-generation mobile phone licenses in Hong Kong were granted. New World and People’s Telephone declined to bid. The Hong Kong government will received minimum payments of HK$50 million with the net present value equivalent to 59 to 96 million U.S. dollars per license.

Innovating in e-business. (A book review). (2001, September 4). The Hindu. [retrieved from FT Asia Africa Intelligence Wire via Lexis-Nexis].

The book, Leading the Revolution, by Gary Hamel of the Harvard Business School Press is reviewed here. It’s described as a readable, well designed book for entrepreneurs and CEO’s alike. The book describes Internet telephony as a method to pay local prices for international calls. "The real issue is not the present versus the future, but the orthodox versus the heterodox," Hamel says.

Kanell, M. E. (2001, September 11). Networld+Interpop: BellSouth to take center stage; New services being unveiled. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. p. 1D.

Voice recognition and voice-enabled networks are movements in technologies at the core of regional bell offerings—voice. Speech recognition is a telephony not an Internet technology. Voice recognition is currently used for directory assistance services to retrieve numbers and by wireless companies to select menu options and dial predetermined numbers. The future includes an intelligent network to allow users to access databases by voice, listen to e-mail and send responses without a keyboard. Bellsouth is a leading RBOC (regional Bell operating company) in offerings for high-speed connections, voice recognition and data storage capabilities. Staff from Bellsouth were part of 50,000 attendees at the Networld+Interpop trade show in Atlanta.

Krapf, E. (2001, February). Is IP telephony’s future on cable? Business Communications Review. p. 14.

Large cable operators like AT&T and Cox Communications have included voice service to cable subscribers. They’re using Class 5 switches attached to their "hybrid fiber-coax (HFC)" networks to add telephony customers. Currently, the main application is a second line for "lifeline" (911) use but the future is in "Packet Cable" voice specs.

Lang, A. (Anchor). (2001, September 6). Vodafone cutting speed of data transmission, CNNfn. The N. E. W. show. CNNFN.

This is an interview with Richard Waters of the "Financial Times" about the wireless company Vodafone. The company plans to launch 3G phones in Europe and the U.S. next year. Stocks are down because the phones will not be as fast as anticipated and the rollout will be delayed. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless. The companies are arguing about whose technology is better and which type of network will be rolled out in the U.S.

McGinty, D. (Anchor). (2001, September 7). Jabulani Leffall, assistant news editor for FT.com, talks about Votophone, and upcoming network deals with the National Basketball Association. World News This Morning – ABC. ABC News.

This is a newscast with Jabulani Leffall, the assistant news editor for the "Financial Times." The topic is Vodafone, (spelled Votophone in the title) the largest wireless telecom company in the world that just spent $15 billion on third generation mobile licensing. Vodafone owns 40 percent of Verizon, the U.S. wireless company.

NTT DoCoMo launches world’s first 3G mobile phone service. (2001, October 1). Channel NewsAsia. Media Corporation of Singapore Pte Ltd.

The first 3G mobile phone service was launched on October 1 in Japan. The FOMA (Freedom of mobile multi-media access) phones are 40 times faster than i-mode phones and can be used to take pictures and play video games. Users can access any Internet site to see images of the person they are talking to. NTT DoCoMo does not expect a return on investment in the first four years.

Pardas, A. (2001, August 20). HP sees local potential for VoIP. New Straits Times – Computimes (Malaysia). Business, p. 4.

VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) is growing fast in Malaysia. Malaysia, China, and Korea are the fastest growing markets in Asia according to Hewlett-Packard Co. VoIP is penetrating markets in Malaysia due to government regulations and deployment of ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber lines) into homes and businesses. This article offers background to the rollout of VoIP including emphasizing cheap price in the first two phases and value-added services in the third phase. The future will include billing and application servers to download content over the internet and Internet call-waiting.

Pinkerton, J. P. (2001, September 4). Rome and AT&T fell and proved a point. Newsday. p. A25.

This article uses an interesting metaphor of the split of the Roman Empire into East and West much the way American Telephone & Telegraph was split between long distance and local Bell companies. To understand the driving force of Internet telephony is to look at the structure of the providers and their fierce competition over price. An opposing force, the Tauzin-Dingell legislation would create a greater monopoly for the four local providers and in turn quell the quality of service.

The Second Annual Telephony Voice User Interface Conference was held in Scottsdale, AZ. The theme was speech recognition technology. Call centers use speech recognition with a 6-18 month return on investment. The World Wide Web can be accessed from telephones using voice web technology. Examples of use include Charles Schwab & Co.’s system to handle stock quotes and trades, and BellSouth Intelliventures’ free voice portal to offer users information services and guides to businesses. William S. Meisel, Ph.D., the president of TMA Associates, said that voice recognition will revolutionize the user to telephone interface.

Increasing mobile phone versatility and method of transmission are changing communication. This article offers a summary of the history of landline phone connectivity including: copper, ISDN and high-speed fiber, and the evolution of mobile phones. Wireless technology has been based on the two-way radio principle. The new breakthrough technology to eliminate wiring is satellite. The downside of satellite phones is large, expensive aerials to pick up satellite signals.

Vethakumar, G. J. (2001, September 10). How telcos can benefit from convergence. The Business Times Singapore. p. SS10.

IP (Internet Protocol used to route packets over the Internet) telephony is expected to grow from $1 billion globally to $61 billion by 2005. Services will be bundled to include voice, data, and video over IP as well as new technologies such as online gaming, video on demand, and videoconferencing.

Reference books:

Druckrey, T., & Ars Electronica (Eds.). (1999). Ars Electronica: facing the future: a survey of two decades. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Ars Electronica "festivals" are held annually in Linz, Austria. This book is a culmination of the twenty year history of this meeting of artists, cyberartists, and scientists. Various contributors explore theory and practice. Of special note is an obscure article on page 305 entitled, "The fate of reason in the global network: Teleology, telegraphy, telephony, television, telesthetics" by Timothy Druckrey.

Georgia Tech Broadband Telecommunications Center & IEEE Communications Society. (1997). Fourth international workshop on community networking. [Workshop Proceedings] New Jersey: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

This book is part of a series of workshops developed for the purpose of dialogue about how new information technologies are integrated in homes. Each session includes an abstract followed by an outline of topics discussed at the conference. Diagrams explain such technology as "Decentralized video on demand architecture," Internet phones, and home networking architecture. The first session focuses on screen phones and advanced screen telephony. The proceedings also contain information on diverse topics in networking and e-commerce.

Held, G. (Ed.). (2000). Network design: principles and applications. Boca Raton: Auerbach.

This book is part of a best practices in technology series. Various authors have contributed segments about specific technology areas. Of special interest for the future of telephony topic, is John R. Vacca’s section on convergence of IP and John Fiske’s section on the IP PBX network.

Johannesson, R., & Zigangirov, K. Sh. (1999). Fundamentals of convolutional coding. New York: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Basic principles of convolutional and modulation codes are explained in a textbook style book. Convolutional codes are key to an understanding of wireless communication.

Mambretti, J., & Schmidt, A. (1999). Next-generation Internet: Creating advanced networks and services. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

For a complete guide to next-generation Internet initiatives and architecture, this is the book. The development of the Internet is explained in great detail, from the early 1980’s to the present. This book is useful not only to understand the technology, but also the players in the Internet world, many who are now offering voice over IP and other telephony services.

Yarberry, W. A. (2000). Computer telephony integration. Boca Raton, Fla: CRC.

This is a great overview of the basics of telephony. Much of the telecom lingo such as IVR, PBX, convergence, and unified messaging, is explained. The summary of IP telephony and integration of voice, fax, and data is a particularly good resource.

Young, M. L. (1999). Internet: the complete reference. Berkeley: Osborne/McGraw-Hill.

Read this book for a complete handbook on the Internet. The book includes detailed explanations of all aspects of Internet communications, concepts, and use of the web for home use. Two particular sections relate specifically to telephony: voice and videoconferencing and Internet telephony.

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