Predictions

Most of these predictions are fairly safe; the questionable part is the timing.

Predictions as of 2007

Radio communications systems over unlicensed spectrum (including special-purpose spectrum for emergency services and the like) will eventually consolidate. The process is already underway, with software radios which can handle a wide range of frequencies and protocols, and the protocols can be expanded with an upload. The transceiver would select a frequency (or have one assigned by a relay tower), and use the appropriate protocol for that frequency (or the protocol specified by the tower). A large frequency pool (or multiple pools) will allow adjusting for various types of inclement conditions, including government requirements and infrastructure collapse. The protocol may include access control procedures and encryption protocols, for secure networking. A number of police and other emergency departments already use systems like this.

The wired telephone system will continue to shift to being moved over the internet, and eventually only voice-over-internet (VOIP or a successor) will be available. New phones will simply plug into a network jack, or connect to the local mesh network. This will probably start to become standard in the US by 2017. New business installations already use CAT5/CAT6 wiring for either networking or telephone, depending upon the patch panel that it is plugged into, and they often convert automatically to VOIP for long distance calls.

The wireless phone systems and wireless networking systems will overlap and eventually merge. Some cellphones already support WiFi and Skype, and an increasing number are adding WiFi support.

Cable TV and internet will eventually merge into TV-over-internet, with internet equipment providing better compression, distribution, and routing, and thus make better use of the bandwidth previously used by TV-only cable bandwidth. The same will probably happen with standard broadcast TV; it will probably merge into wireless internet. In that sense, the broadcast HD TV push in the US is only about 5 years away from becoming obsolete, as of early 2007. Cellphones have been introduced earlier this year (2007) which receive TV broadcasts over special cellular frequencies.

New houses and businesses, especially in urban areas, will eventually be designed and built with FTTP (Fiber to the Premises) for internet, TV, and telephone service; this is already underway in some areas, with FiOS.

Widespread fiber usage, and high-bandwidth wireless networking capabilities currently being developed (faster than current broadband) will result in dense high-speed, high-capacity mesh networks, which will blanket most of the planet, and will replace most other non-emergency radio communications systems.