Ricochet/Metricom

Slashdot has an interesting thread on the 128 kbps wide-area wireless 
internet service offered by Ricochet/Metricom:

  http://slashdot.org/articles/01/02/09/1559221.shtml

Since I last reported on this list, they have apparently reduced their 
round-trip times from 1/2 s to about 1/5 s.

So, that would make even synchronous voice passable.  Why shouldn't 
this kind of service phase out cell-phones in the next few years?

Cheers,
James