Last November, Google and 33 other companies announced the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a new industry consortium that, in promoting open standards for mobile devices, promises to reinvent the cell phone--and possibly the entire wireless-telecommunications industry. While that's a tall order, I suspect that handsets, which Google intends to make as customizable as laptop computers, are just the beginning of the company's mobile efforts.

The word "open" in OHA's name is not just a buzzword: it signifies a radical ­departure from today's cellular networks, especially those in the United States. Today's cellular ecologies aren't exactly closed; it's possible to load third-party applications onto some cell phones, and websites belonging to third-party providers such as Google can be accessed. Verizon (not an OHA member) has even announced its willingness to open its network to non-Verizon phones. But that openness is all at the periphery: wireless providers today offer just enough choice in phones, features, and services to remain competitive while preventing consumers from using rival tech­nology and defecting to other carriers.