THE GSM WAVE

ABOUT 20 years back, 15 phone companies signed an agreement to build mobile networks based on Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology. Telecom experts then had no idea as to what this might become. Today there are over 2.5 billion GSM mobile accounts worldwide. It took 12 years for the first billion mobile connections to be made but only 30 months for the figure to reach two billion. According to the GSM Association, UK has more GSM connections than people. China has 445 million GSM customers. India has over 100 million. About 64% of mobile users are in emerging markets and about seven billion text messages are sent every day on GSM phones. This is a great start for any technology. And the future is more astonishing. Experts believe that soon communication technology will be woven in clothes we wear, in shoes, in appliances, in cars etc. Mobile technology will revolutionise healthcare and see people wearing monitors that gather and transmit information about vital signs. That's in addition to things like banking and TV viewing, which have already started on handhelds, in some parts of the world. Another new wave has just started.