Tapping Into Wireless: The Savvy Investor's Guide to Profiting from the Wireless Wave

"Tapping Into Wireless" is written for those who want to invest in the high-growth area of wireless telecommunications. Entrepreneurs entering the wireless industry and people interested in learning more about the world of wireless will also benefit by reading this book.The book begins with a chapter about the history of wireless technology. Taulli and Mock say we can understand the how's and why's of the industry by learning a bit about the history of wireless. This will help us make better investment decisions today.After telling us about the advent of the telegraph and the early adventures to lay transatlantic cable to allow continent-to-continent communication, Taulli and Mock discuss Gugielmo Marconi's development of the radio and the growth of amateur radio.Surprisingly, nearly 100 years ago, many people imagined that wireless would become the dominant personal communication device. Because of the ability of waves travelling through air to reach any location and the expense of laying cable from every point to every point, it seemed logical that person-to-person communication would be radio-based, not cable-based.Yet, only recently have wireless personal communications become a consumer reality. Taulli and Mock explain that the wireless future had to wait until electronic advances allowed compact and reliable wireless devices.That didn't stop early promoters of wireless from starting companies promising a bright future and guaranteeing huge investment returns. Taulli and Mock discuss the wireless telegraph investment bubble of the early 1900's.Taulli and Mock write: "Unscrupulous stock promoters exaggerated this theoretical advantage of radio way beyond reason at the time....it demonstrates what can happen when a revolutionary technology emerges in a capitalist society. Truly, there was a very real and promising industry in wireless telegraphy and telephony; it only needed more time to develop. The problems with stock scams at this time actually had more to do with corrupt financiers than with the radio industry...." Taulli and Mock explain a successful investor in technology must distinguish hype from reality. This doesn't imply the need to have an engineer's level of understanding of wireless technology.Taulli and Mock write: "...knowledge of wireless technology may not be a significant advantage for the investor. The technology buffs who have the inside scoop on how all this stuff works often make no better investment choices than those who are clueless in this area."The authors explain that too many other factors affect wireless investments, including government regulation, politics, communication standards adoptions, buy-in from industry leaders, intellectual property management, and consumer taste.For example, Taulli and Mock tell us that, as radio grew in America, the U.S. government felt a foreign corporation shouldn't control the airwaves, so the U.S. government put pressure on Marconi to sell its U.S. radio interests to an American

As a former wireless professional and long time investor in wireless companies, I am frequently asked by fellow investors to recommend a good basic book on wireless. "Tapping into Wireless" fills the bill! The book is highly literate and well organized and covers wireless history, the wireless regulatory environment, the role of wireless service providers, the various warless technologies, and the evolution of wireless standards, and it does so without getting bogged down in technical detail. Better yet, it covers both wireless basics and investing in wireless companies. Not only does the book not favor a particular wireless technology, it cautions against getting emotionally involved with a particular technology. For those that are not intimately familiar with the industry, this is a great place to start.