Telecommunication in the 21st Century: The Real and the Virtual

During this century, telecommunications have been revolutionized by the advent of transistors and integrated circuits, solid state lasers, global satellites and optical fibres. As we enter the next century and the next millennium, this technological revolution is set to speed up. Advances will be shaped by many factors: technological breakthroughs, market forces, politics, economics, regulations. More importantly they will be shaped by human and social factors, and the success or failure of products and services will largely be driven by consumer demand. The potential of today's developments suggests incredible possibilities, but many of these may never be realized. This illuminating look at the future attempts to distinguish between what will become reality and what will remain hypothetical and focuses on those developments that are the most probable. This is not a book of visionary ideals, but a practical view of the next century of telecommunication.