Wireless Gear Evens the Playing Field

NEW ORLEANS — Telephone poles and wires will be with us for a long time to come, but wireless communications and the Internet are having a growing impact on mobile businesses like trucking.

Many high-profile developments in mobile communications are targeted toward consumers. But the low cost of such equipment and the ease of accessing the Internet mean more small companies can use communications channels that used to be available only to fleets with deep pockets.

Wireless data use is growing at a 35% annual rate, and its market value is expected to reach $2.5 billion by 2002, according to a report from Frost and Sullivan, a research firm that released the findings at the Cellular Telecommunications International Association’s annual conference in New Orleans earlier this month.

For the full story, see the Feb. 22 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.