Future Queue.

Wireless broadband for mobile users received a huge boost with the recently announced collaboration between AT&T Wireless Services (www.att.com), British Telecom, and Microsoft (www.microsoft.com). The three industry leaders plan to conceive, develop, and deploy new global wireless broadband applications for business and consumer markets. Commercial rollout of the service, which will be based on the Microsoft mobile data services platform, is expected early in 2001.

In an inevitable next step for the Internet, Big Brother (i.e., the Securities and Exchange Commission) plans to create an automated surveillance system that will scour the Web and message boards for investment fraud. Privacy Council (www.privacycouncil.com) CEO Gary Clayton calls it "a search-and-seizure issue ... the equivalent of tapping a phone. The irony of this situation is staggering." Left unchallenged, the SEC Web incursion could lead to other government agencies conducting general searches of enterprise sites, message boards, and chat rooms.

U.S. telecom equipment is gaining worldwide popularity, according to the latest export statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1999, U.S. telecom equipment exports totaled $22.5 billion, up 11% from 1998. Canada ($3.7 billion), Mexico ($2.4 billion) and Japan ($2.3 billion) were the top three markets; while shipments of telegraphic equipment (578%), fiber-optic cable (178%), and radio receivers (155%) registered the largest percentage gains.

Meanwhile, long-distance providers are not nearly so happy with certain trading partners. While MCI WorldCom waits to see the outcome of market-access talks between Japan and the United States--with a challenge possible before the World Trade Organization (WTO)--the carrier also is bellowing about limited access opportunities in Mexico. "Competitive carriers in Mexico have essentially been mugged by Telmex," says John Stupka of MCI WorldCom. "Telmex has engaged in a classic price squeeze." Another WTO challenge is possible.

The telco complaint with Japan's high-access charges for U.S. carriers comes as Alcatel, and FLAG Telecom announces it will lay a new transPacific, multiterabit cable system. The 22,000-km cable will provide voice, high-speed data, Internet, broadcast, and other communications traffic at speeds up to 5.12 TBps per cable link. The network will link Tokyo to Vancouver, Seattle San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

A study by CHR Solutions of Dallas (www.chrsolutions.com) indicates that the 160-plus independent local exchange carriers (ILEC) in the U.S. are moving

rapidly toward xDSL service offerings. Among the emerging services analyzed, xDSL increased from 18% to nearly 37%. In addition, half of the respondents plan to roll out xDSL platforms within the next 12 months.