Moore's Law and potential changes in Federal Communications Commission policy likely mean that companies will see the day—sooner rather than later—when a single, multifunction wireless device replaces the sundry gadgets now carried by mobile workers.

Earlier this month, the FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Force recommended rule changes to include time—in addition to frequency and power—when deciding how radio bandwidth is used. Software-defined radios on the drawing boards today could use these rule changes, and ever-increasing processor capability, to combine the functions of pagers and mobile and cordless phones into a single device. These devices can operate around the world by adapting to each country's regulatory idiosyncrasies.