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Liverpool goes wireless

August 2004

By Ian Pearson, BT’s futurist

Wireless seems a terribly old word. For many who might only now be in their 40s the word might conjure up images of huge, wooden-cased radios from their childhood with names of radio stations across the whole of Europe that were, in most cases, impossible to listen to because of the crackly or non-existent reception. And many wirelesses in those days were anything but wireless, requiring 240 volts to get their valves going, wireless in this context only referring to the absence of any wires to carry the signals to radios.

Wireless has taken on a wholly new meaning, covering mobile phones and recently the ‘WiFi’ phenomenon that is enabling people to use email and the internet, for example, through laptop computers via truly wireless means in shops, airports, cafes and a range of other places. But it is the future of wireless that is really exciting

and what it can do for us in our work or social lives.

One of the factors that will push wireless well and truly into the future is third-generation, or 3G, mobile communications technology. Current mobile systems are mainly based on a system known as GSM, which provides voice communications and relatively small levels of data, such as WAP internet, to mobiles. 3G can be compared to the broadband revolution on landlines; mobiles will be able to receive and send much more data than ever before: video, surfing the web and other truly interactive content will be available to mobile phones just as it is to PCs.

So what does this mean to Liverpool, its businesses and people? Well, there are almost as many applications for this new wireless revolution as the imagination will allow. Take shops and businesses; they will be able to market their special offers, or anything else, to people passing by. People will be able to elect to receive information on certain goods or services they are interested in and receive details when they are in the vicinity of the seller. So if you are out looking for birthday presents for someone, say a digital camera, a watch or a particular book, you could programme this into your phone and walk up Church Street and let the sellers ‘come to you’ with not only prices, but pictures and other details too, making a walk in town a bit like the reverse auctions we see on the web.

What if you don’t have that special someone to buy that present for? Believe it or not, future wireless communications can sort that too. You’ll be able to place your own profile on your mobile and ask it to alert you to the presence of others with a similar profile who happen to be near to you and who have done the same. So a night at the Aquarium or Chinbuku could be even more productive in terms of the time taken to find that perfect partner! Even if you’re not looking for the love of your life, your social life need never have any flat spots. Clubs and societies covering anything from railway preservation to first aid or dance music to ethnic interests can make themselves known to people who have included those interests in their profile.

Tourism will also benefit hugely. No longer will important, or even not so important sites, remain a secret. 3G will enable histories of just about any site or area, enriched with video and photographic material, to be sent directly to mobiles within the vicinity of sites they happen to be near. Detailed histories of cities like Liverpool, even down to individual streets, buildings and monuments, will come alive in a way that was never previously possible. Imagine tourists coming to Liverpool being able to watch video footage of the Beatles whilst stood on the site of the Cavern, or seeing pictures of the great liners passing the Liver building as they take the ferry across the Mersey.

Security will also change dramatically. It’s one thing putting a burglar alarm on your house but it will be a whole different world when you can call to a webcam at your home, car or business and see for yourself exactly what’s going on there. Fire, flood or even your dog attempting to eat your new sofa while you’re out for the evening could all be caught before they do too much damage when a signal is sent to your phone telling you to have a look. Tracking people is already possible. Sounds like Big Brother? Well, in common with most technology, there is an on/off switch. If you don’t want to be tracked then you can turn it off. But if you’ve got kids and want to know where they are, it will be an invaluable tool. It will also help the emergency services to find people when they need to be found.

Business people will be able to will be able to make decisions with much more confidence than ever before; many workers need to make professional judgements using the best information to hand, no matter where they are and wireless communications will provide this to people as they travel to and around the city. Business people coming to Liverpool will have the information they need to carry out their work just as if they had stayed at their desks. The public sector will benefit too, for example, social and health workers and town planners could benefit from pictorial content and information from complex databases ‘on the spot’ meaning that they and their employers will feel even more confident about their decisions. The public could also join in by sending pictures of, for example, holes in the road enabling council people to judge repair priorities much faster than is currently possible.

And whilst we’re on the subject of pictures, video by mobile phone will also be a major step forward. Yes, video links have taken a long time to arrive with us but now that people are using their PCs to link to each other over the internet they’re getting used to video communication. This will happen by mobile soon, at BT we’ve even patented a system that makes sure your face stays in the middle of the screen at the other end of your call, even if you’re calling your friend as you demonstrate stunts on your skateboard! Think about access to health professionals. NHS Direct is a whole world on from where we were even just 10 years ago. Access to a huge database of health-related information backed up by access to nurses and doctors by phone. But just imagine being able to show physical symptoms to the expert at the other end, or transmit data on heart rates, blood pressure, etc, from equipment linked to your body via your mobile phone, wherever you are. It’s all going to be possible, and in some cases it’s already happening.

Local democracy will also gain a much-needed boost with information on councillors and policies being readily available for individual wards. Electronic voting would also be possible via mobile helping to ensure not only a greater ‘turn out’ but voters who are much more clued up about who and what they are voting for.

Of course, mobiles have also bought with them concerns about health, although researchers commissioned by the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme believe the popularity of mobile phones with young people could be a factor in the falling number of 15-year-old smokers! There are fears based around the masts that carry the signals from mobiles to the telephone network, but more of these will be required if the services of the future are going to become a reality. Independent enquiries, whilst not discovering any links between health and mobile masts, have established guidelines that mobile operators stick to when siting masts. Innovative new mini aerials that give out a fraction of the power of traditional masts have also been developed to help cities like Liverpool make sure that its continued regeneration is helped by world-class mobile communications.

There is no doubt that the mobile communications world has a lot in store for us. You only need to think back to the eighties when just the idea of people wandering about speaking to each other on mini phones that didn’t have a great length of wire trailing behind them was quite beyond the belief of most people. The flexibility this quiet wireless revolution has gained us is quite outstanding, and it is estimated that the mobile phone industry will boost the economy by £49bn by 2013. This was not predicted at the time of the launch of mobile phones, but our exciting predictions for expanded use of mobile communications based on the type of services already being launched are all too likely to come true. I can’t wait!

Ian Pearson maps the progress of new developments in technology considering technical and social implications. He is BT’s futurist and advises many industry sectors on the major threats and opportunities facing them in the future. His current research areas cover ultra-simple computing, bionics and conscious computing. He has often received awards for his work and has made over 200 radio and TV appearances.

Ian has been predicting future trends - concerning the way we will live, communicate and do business in years to come - since 1990, across a time that has witnessed immense changes in science and IT. To date, politicians, BT's customers, business leaders and the world's media are among those who have paid great attention to Ian's incisive, valuable and often chilling predictions, which he says, "always get a good reaction, through being provocative and telling people just how fast things are moving." He adds of his audiences: "They don't always agree with what I say. But that's not the brief."