Hot Sheet

The Whitacre Kingdom SBC Communications announces its intention to purchase Ameritech for $55 billion. This follows its purchase of Pacific Telesis Group and Southern New England Telecommunications last year. The rumor is there are more buys on the block. If SBC is in the mix, how is the resulting company different from the original AT&T that Judge Green broke up in 1984?

Real-World Opportunity Remember the failed SBC-AT&T takeover talks of last year? Suddenly, this month's SBC union with Ameritech makes it seem as though it may not be so long before the takeover could become reality.

Switch to Vibrate Europe continues its assault on wireless in public. First, the French threatened to regulate the use of mobile phones in public places. Recently, an Irish reporter, John Kilraine, was charged with contempt when his cellular phone rang in the courtroom. The Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists called the situation an outrage. It could have been worse. The judge could have taken literally the concept of calling party pays and tossed them both in the brig.

Life Lines AT&T linked the bodily functions of climbers on Mount Everest to medical and data staff in the United States via wireless communications, ISDN and a web site. During the ascent to the 29,038-foot summit, the four climbers transmitted wellness, endurance and physiological characteristics such as heart rates, respiratory, circulatory and other data. With tracking like this, fewer climbers should disappear into thin air.

Thumbs Up You have heard of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, the affliction reducing the blood flow through the bones in your wrist? Now there is Tom Thumb Tunnel Syndrome, the arthritic-like condition afflicting GameBoy players as well as prolific 2-way messaging users.

Medical Endorsement Among the fascinating new applications for wireless data is RhythmStat, which allows doctors to use portable devices to receive ECGs directly from the patients' event recorders. This takes the concept of nine out of 10 doctors endorsing a product to a new level.

Wireless Data ... STAT Wireless telemedicine has a way of taking the fear factor out of wireless data. If the medical community is going to entrust its patients' lives to it, surely customers will entrust their data to it.