The Future of Mobile Communications: Awaiting the Third Generation

Rating:
Summary: 3G or not 3G, that is the question
Review: It is very difficult keeping track of what is going on in mobile communications, especially if you are interested in the politics and economics rather than the technology as such which is covered in a number of other books listed on Amazon. Curwen is the first author to try and make sense of it all in book form, and he has overall done a very good job, covering the history of mobile from 2G through GPRS etc to 3G, introduing a short case study of every country that has licensed 3G, an analysis of all of the issues raised and a detailed look at Vodafone and Orange as representative operators. There's lots of wrong numbers out there in the media and websites, and great care has obviously been taken to check the data although the author admits the possibility of errors. The book's greatest virtue is that it is up to date, with the final draft of the text only months old. This isn't one for the techies, but for those interested in the wider ramifications of mobile communications it will prove a valuable - and commendably brief - read.