Upwardly Mobile

By Maggie Sieger Sunday, June 22, 2003
    • Incompatible international standards can defeat even the strongest cell phones. No longer: new technology allows subscribers to communicate by voice, text or photo no matter where they are in the world. Software start-up fastmobile, run by two Motorola refugees in Schaumburg, Ill., rolled out its "fastchat" service earlier this month. Fastchat crosses networks, which means subscribers can chat even if they have competing mobile services, provided their company has joined fastmobile. So far, AT&T;, Cingular and T-Mobile are on board.