Clarification

In the "Review of Network Reliability" supplement to the Oct. 1 issue, a diagram in the article "Eternal Vigilance" ran without the credit and correct caption. The diagram on page NR10 was adapted from Mobile Telecommunications Networking With IS-41 by Michael Gallagher and Randall Snyder. The caption should have read: "A carrier that owns its SS7 network could contract with another carrier to carry its traffic in the event of a major outage. E-link routes would be automatically used when the A-links in your network failed," said Randy Snyder, Synacom Technology executive director, marketing, and co-author of Mobile Telecommunications Networking With IS-41. "The E-links are simply lower priority routes that MTP Level 3 would manage in the SS7 protocol."

See the corrected article at www.wirelessreview.com.

GSM carriers continue to outpace CDMA and TDMA in the number of wireless subscribers they serve around the world. And the gap isn't expected to narrow any time soon, according to a recent study by The Strategis Group, which projects that by 2004, the number of CDMA subscribers will grow by approximately eight times its current base. TDMA subscribers should quadruple in number, and the number of GSM subscribers should triple in size.

PCS '99 featured stylish and comfortable wireless phones. One big buzz was making the phone your ultimate source of information. Several companies launched new products and phones to assist in this goal.

* Ericsson has announced its R320 cellular phone able to access the Web by using a WAP browser. The phone weighs less than 3.5 ounces. The dual-band R320 can talk to computers with its modem and infrared link. The phone will be available in 1Q2000.

* Motorola's dual-band CDMA digital wireless phone, the ST7867W, along with the CDMA digital StarTac ST7860W dual-mode, single-band phone, offers Internet browsing functionality with Starfish TrueSync software. An integrated microbrowser offers CDMA digital data connectivity at up to 14.4kb/s data speed and wireless connection to e-mail, faxes and documents.

* NEC is vying for a piece of the handset market by introducing its DigitalTalk NEX series, the 2600/2200. The phone weighs 4.6 ounces with a Li-Ion battery and comes in a new color, brushed aluminum, as well as charcoal gray. The DigitalTalk NEX 2600 is NEC's first tri-mode, dual-band phone.

* Nokia, currently the handset leader, showcased the Nokia 7100 series, its line of media phones designed for easy access to Internet content. With a Nokia-developed WAP 1.1-compliant microbrowser, the 7100 series can access personalized information services. This information service is sweetened by Nokia's agreement with CNN Mobile, a wireless news service.

* Plantronics' M series headsets incorporate a range of features and a way to talk hands-free while using a wireless phone. The headset includes a noise-canceling microphone, coupled with a microphone-adjust switch. Sound quality is enhanced through the Plantronics RF noise shield and built-in acoustic protection.

* RangeStar has announced a standalone Bluetooth embedded antenna for wireless devices that can operate on the 2.4GHz ISM band. The Ultima series design offers designers the ability to mount multilayer embedded antennas onto boards as if they were components.