Mobile telephones-the way towards the penetrated markets

The history of modern mobile telephones covers hardly twenty years; actually the most meaningful phase in the progress, the digital wave, started less than ten years ago. The new wave, the appearance of UMTS technology, provides a platform for applications expecting wide band transmission; these applications will open another new era in this field. The paper discusses the history, the present and the future of the diffusion of mobile phones. The focus is on the diffusion and infusion of mobile phones especially on the driving forces in the background of these processes. The experiences are derived from Finland and the technology platform referred is mainly the European (and Nordic) one.