Rating: 
Summary: Good book on neglected topic
Review: So much has been written about the internet industry in the 90's. But almost as important in the same period was the wireless industry. Very little has been written about wireless. This book does a good job of telling the fascinating story of how cellular got started in the US. The stories of how the government gave away the sprectrum and entrepeneurs (and hucksters) came up with ways to get rich off it are great. I only wished the book covered a longer period. Maybe the author will do a follow up on the PCS industry, where the government auctioned frequencies instead of using lotteries.
Rating:
Summary: Great Background Read
Review: This book is a must-read for anyone involved in the cellular industry, and should be very interesting (and entertaining) for anyone interested in entrepreneurialism or emerging industries. I work in the cellular industry and often hear, from those who worked in the industry in the mid-eighties, references to the "old days." While the current success of the cellular industry makes it seem as if its success was a "no-brainer," Murray makes clear that this was not the case--he does an excellent job of describing the free-wheeling, if not chaotic, beginnings of the industry, the fateful steps and mis-steps of some of the early players, and the vast uncertainty of whether the industry would ever be viable. Most memorably, he provides interesting profiles of some of the pioneers, cowboys, and charlatans that participated in the creation of America's cell-phone sector.
Rating:
Summary: Great Background Read
Review: This book is a must-read for anyone involved in the cellular industry, and should be very interesting (and entertaining) for anyone interested in entrepreneurialism or emerging industries. I work in the cellular industry and often hear, from those who worked in the industry in the mid-eighties, references to the "old days." While the current success of the cellular industry makes it seem as if its success was a "no-brainer," Murray makes clear that this was not the case--he does an excellent job of describing the free-wheeling, if not chaotic, beginnings of the industry, the fateful steps and mis-steps of some of the early players, and the vast uncertainty of whether the industry would ever be viable. Most memorably, he provides interesting profiles of some of the pioneers, cowboys, and charlatans that participated in the creation of America's cell-phone sector.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Book for Wireless Professionals
Review: This book provides useful insight for me in terms of assessing which markets and current players will play a significant role in the future. For people who wanted to aspire in making their own mark in this industry, let this book inspire you as stories on how the current cellular magnates were able to achieve their dreams and rise from the many challenges confronting them.
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining historical account
Review: This is a great book for getting a personal account from the major business personalities involved in building the nation's cell phone system. The way the spectrum was licensed and the companies had to partner makes an exciting read, but I couldn't help wondering about the rest of the story. There's no information about what the Europeans and Japanese were doing and little discussion of the technical aspects of the systems. Although some might consider it dry, a short chapter discussing on how early cell phones worked would give readers an apprecation of how these devices were miracles of modern science and would add a dimension to the story that I feel is missing. The only other disappointment was the biased view of the FCC which, even if true should have been investigated and reported more thouroughly. An example would be how the authors explain that the FCC decided to radically change the licensing rules which took more than a decade to come up with after granting the first 30 licenses. This is a significant event, but the authors don't give any personal perspectives by regulators on exactly why this happened. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it for professionals in any of the telecom fields.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining historical account
Review: This is a great book for getting a personal account from the major business personalities involved in building the nation's cell phone system. The way the spectrum was licensed and the companies had to partner makes an exciting read, but I couldn't help wondering about the rest of the story. There's no information about what the Europeans and Japanese were doing and little discussion of the technical aspects of the systems. Although some might consider it dry, a short chapter discussing on how early cell phones worked would give readers an apprecation of how these devices were miracles of modern science and would add a dimension to the story that I feel is missing. The only other disappointment was the biased view of the FCC which, even if true should have been investigated and reported more thouroughly. An example would be how the authors explain that the FCC decided to radically change the licensing rules which took more than a decade to come up with after granting the first 30 licenses. This is a significant event, but the authors don't give any personal perspectives by regulators on exactly why this happened. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it for professionals in any of the telecom fields.
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