Wireless past and future - Evolving mobile communications systems

Nowadays, when people colloquially use the word "wireless," they almost always mean a portable telephone. Over the last 10 years, there has been tremendous growth in the mobile communications markets not only in Japan but also worldwide. For these 10 years, the most popular service has been dominated by Voice communication. However, modern mobile communications systems are shifting their focus from solely voice communication to electronic mailing and Internet access. From now, we will evolve into a wireless multimedia society, where a combination of mobile communications and the Internet will play an important role. Wireless technology is the core of mobile communications systems. This article, which focuses on wireless technology, looks at how mobile communications systems have evolved over the last 10 years and looks to the future of advanced wireless technologies that will be necessary to realize a true wireless multimedia society in the coming decade.