Written by: Eric Peterson
¡Hola! At work, more or less the entire department to which I belong recently decided to start a course in Spanish. So we have now arranged to have an instructor come to the office one hour each week to teach us. This was the very “push” I needed to start brushing up my Spanish language skills (which, since my move to Sweden, 12 years ago, have fallen into decline). Thinking to tune my ear somewhat, by listening to spoken Spanish, I spent part of the past weekend searching the Web for links to live streaming radio broadcasts. In Spain, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Uruguay, I found sites that satisfied my personal criteria. Time permitting, I have now begun spending some 30 minutes each evening listening to Internet radio.

I should mention that I use a laptop and wireless LAN at home, which means that I can plug into my stereo system—or for greater mobility, I can listen through a pair of headphones. Given the now imminent widespread introduction of wireless packet-data communication, it does not take a great leap of the imagination to envision myself in a year or two listening to Spanish-language Internet radio broadcasts via some kind of portable multimedia terminal during my commute to and from work. What is more, if I want to, I will be able to listen to the same program from any location (Stockholm, New York, San Diego, Tokyo, New Delhi, etc.)! To me, that is one of the underlying messages of third-generation mobile multimedia communication: you can access what you want at anytime and from any place.

First-generation mobile telephony was circuit-switched voice communication over analog radio. First-generation systems delivered the dream of mobile communication.

Second-generation mobile telephony introduced circuit-switched voice communication over digital radio. These systems made better use of radio frequency and introduced the concept of services—increased personalization, SMS, extended mobility.

Generation “2.5” (for example, the packet core network) entails the introduction of packet-data communication into second-generation systems, thereby paving the way for the transition or evolution from circuit-switched communication to packet-data communication via a multiservice network. Thanks to the new, horizontal multiservice network architecture—indeed, the true enabler of third-generation systems—we will soon be able to use one terminal for virtually any kind or combination of media:

• voice—ordinary two-way or conference communication;
• text—word-processing, spread-sheets, and so on;
• messaging—short messages (SMS), multi-media messaging (MMS), e-mail, and so on;
• audio—streaming/non-streaming audio; and
• video—streaming/non-streaming video.

Add more bandwidth/capacity and resolve the problems associated with addressing, and you have true end-to-end mobile multi-media (3G).

For my part, at least, I soon hope to be able to incorporate mobile streaming audio (and possibly video) into my daily routine. Your interests might differ, but if they include mobile media of any sort, then you will also find something that satisfies. ¡Hasta luego!

[First published in Ericsson Review no. 02, 2001]