This chapter has taken an unusual approach in that it has attempted to predict the future roles of mobile and wireless communications by sharing information between a network operator, BT, and an equipment vendor, Motorola, and by using techno economic modelling techniques applied to 'connected' scenarios. Our goal has not been to predict the future as such but to envision a set of possible futures and the wireless systems that may come into being. Firstly, we considered a blanket network deployment 3G, 3.5G and WLANs against three application scenarios covering voice, multimedia and video. This has identified the opportunities for 3G and 3.5G in supporting voice and lower average speed multimedia applications while WLANs offer a cost-effective complement to 3G in the urban environment for higher average speed multimedia and video applications. Cellular is clearly more cost effective than WLANs in less densely populated areas. It has highlighted the opportunities for cellular and WLANs operators to maximise value through co operation. We found that access network costs represent a key controlling variable for business value which lead on to collaborative work in centralising processing and utilising RF over fibre networks to lower-cost base-stations. Such co-operation between fixed and cellular operators would significantly increase the commercial value for both.

Wireless local area networks (short range broadband radio systems) are rapidly becoming a normal part of the communications access infrastructure. Demand for wireless local area network (LAN) products has grown dramatically over the last two years, and shows no sign of slowing. Indeed it is strengthened by the growth of laptops and personal mobility products. Business users now expect to be able to access the Internet and even their private corporate intranets through other wireless LAN networks. It is hard to remember that less than two years ago this technology was still viewed with some scepticism. This technology and its rapid success presents service providers with incredible opportunities and challenges.

In this chapter,UWB holds out great promise for potential applications in communications, radar and imaging systems. The reason UWB can offer these benefits is that UWB waveforms are of extremely short time duration. In communication applications, short pulses can be used to provide extremely high data rate transmissions for multi user applications. The same short pulses enable high resolution for both radar and positioning applications.

This chapter is a great interest in the future potential of ad hoc networks. However, before they take off on a large scale a solid understanding of their performance and coverage is essential. In this chapter we have discussed in detail the overall available capacity in a network of randomly distributed nodes as well as the conditions for the network being locally connected. We have demonstrated that capacity and local connectivity are complementary quantities in the sense that by improving the probability of local connectivity one decreases the overall available capacity in the network and vice versa. We have shown that by applying antennas which focus their beams towards the nodes with which they directly communicate, the overall capacity of the network can be increased substantially without reducing the level of local connectivity. This issue is likely to become very important, particularly in the case of dynamic.

If mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are to go beyond their current, limited, use in military systems or where there is complete ownership by one party, then there will need to be security mechanisms in place. This chapter focuses on the security-related issues inherent in such networks, and in particular upon participation incentive schemes.

The concept of a 'system beyond 3G' is based on the combination of several access technologies like 3G for cellular coverage, WLAN for hot-spot coverage and DSL for broadband fixed access. These are unified by running IP at the network layer and are interconnected by an IP backbone. Within this chapter we have tried to outline the progress that the 1ST projects BRAIN and MIND have made towards solving some parts of these challenges. We believe that, with the roll-out of 3G, WLANs and DSL the world over, there will be powerful economic reasons, for either operators or third parties to unify the customer experience (e.g. billing, services, personalisation) through the commonality of IP. We believe it will be systems beyond 3G that will come to dominate the telecommunications arena over the next decade.

This chapter gives an overview of current network API initiatives and technologies. It aims to show that alongside the current generation of resilient network API gateways, there are important business processes that must be supported if the application market is to truly take off. The key emphasis should be on providing application developers and application providers with the tools and facilities needed to drive down and constrain cost and skills in the process of delivering applications to benefit users.

Spectrum management is a key element in the development of any new radio technology. Due to the multiplicity of existing radio applications, it is necessary for global regulation to be applied over the radio frequency bands, to ensure that all permitted users can operate without causing harmful interference to others, or receiving harmful interference from others. There is currently a considerable amount of effort ongoing around the world, to address the regulatory requirements to enable tetherless applications to gain access to sufficient suitable spectrum to meet the anticipated demand. This has to be done in the context of the many other demands for radio applications, to enable the available spectrum to be used in the optimum manner. Therefore, the regulation is essential to ensure that all legitimate users of the radio spectrum can continue to operate reliably. As a consequence, BT maintains a spectrum management capability, both to protect its existing networks and investments, and to provide expertise for the deployment of new technologies,through co-ordination with the national, regional and global radio regulatory bodies.

Mobile devices themselves are fundamentally limited in size and form factor by the need to be mobile. Voice control offers the means to circumvent these form-factor limitations and deliver usable service to the mobile market. Such multimodal interfaces are one step along the way to creating more natural interactions between people and applications. As mobile applications and networks become more intelligent, we can expect the UI to become even more responsive to user needs at any one time, adjusting the combination of modalities in use in response to location, device availability, network availability and user preferences. As networked computing becomes more ubiquitous, we can also expect multimodal interfaces to be delivered through more varied combinations of devices and utilise more varied modes of interaction which may include gaze tracking, gesture recognition and electronic ink. Already available today are multimodal solutions that can enhance the user experience for any mobile user from those with a basic telephone to those with the most powerful PDAs. Take-up of these solutions for mobile applications and services is essential if mobile data applications are to deliver a return on the huge investment in 2.5G and 3G networks.

A social history of the mobile telephone is not just a history of a shifting concept of mobility. In fact, the linking of mobile telephones with mobility may be premature; young people, for example may use text to communicate across very small distances, even across the room. Even if mobility is the key social concept, it is cross-cut by cultural behaviours and beliefs about intimacy, the role of public space, the changing place of women in the labour market, customisation of commodities, to name just a few. The mobile telephone has a global history in the sense that it has been developed or stalled by national politics as much as engineering challenges, exemplified by the different ways in which third generation (3G) licences were sold in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the USA. Meanwhile there have been vast societal changes in terms of production and consumption, largely embedded in cross-national processes of globalisation. Political influences on design have been accompanied by huge social changes, such as the development of travel and the increasing car culture during the period of the mobile's early development.