Product Description

The sensational story of the entrepreneurs and corporate raiders who built America's thriving wireless industry. "Highly recommended."--Library JournalThe wireless industry was built by a motley band of characters who, from the beginning, have fought unrelentingly against one another for a cut of the business. It's a surprising history full of winners, losers, and lucky first-time entrepreneurs who made millions.Written by industry insider James B. Murray, Jr., Wireless Nation chronicles the unique development of the wireless industry and the protagonists who brought it to life. In the mix is the inimitable entrepreneur Craig McCaw, MCI Chairman William McGowan, John Kluge of Metromedia, and also Peter Lewis, a former Army officer and cellular business pioneer whose career ended in disgrace when he finally bent the rules a little too far. Murray tells the story as only an insider can, detailing the incredible circumstances--not to mention the greatest government boondoggle of our time--that shaped and defined the coming century's most promising business. It is a must-read for anyone interested in new technology and the American business landscape.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1535693 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The idea of a Wireless Nation would have been unthinkable just a few years ago when only an elite few could even hope to obtain a mobile phone--and the service they got, if they were fortunate enough to get any, was both technically mediocre and inordinately expensive. That all changed in the 1980s, of course, when cellular technology began moving from experimental to ubiquitous and those clunky early car phones went the way of the telephone operator. The subsequent rush to wireless has been one of the most dynamic business stories of our time, and James B Murray, Jr does a fine job of running it down and sorting it out in Wireless Nation. The negotiator of some of the US industry's biggest deals as chairman and managing director of Columbia Capital, Murray has had first-hand access to most of the major players in the ongoing saga and his book benefits tremendously from the insider's perspective that these connections helped forge. It also benefits greatly from his novelist's eye, which virtually puts readers into the centre of the action with big-time participants like McCaw Cellular's Craig McCaw as well as "regular folks" like a middle-aged truck driver named Bob Pelissier who snagged one of the country's first cellular licenses. Moving effortlessly from Newfoundland to New York and Washington state to Washington DC, Murray deftly chronicles the emergence of the cell phone as a worldwide business and societal phenomenon. He also offers informed speculation as to its future, as emergent wireless Internet connections promise to make current technology and consumer penetration look as quaint as a black-dial telephone. --Howard Rothman

About the Author
James B. Murray, Jr., was an early i nvestor in and broker of cellular telephone licens es. A co-founder of Columbia Capital Corporation, a venture capital firm now managing assets in exce ss of USD 1.5 billion, Mr. Murray currently directs C ourt Square Ventures, a venture capital firm speci alizing in telecommunications and information-tech nology investments. He lives in Charlottesville, V irginia.