Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences.
Now that the mobile industry’s largest show is over, it is a good time to digest the fire hose of information that is Mobile World Congress. And I’m happy to say that I believe we will look back on 2014’s show as a true historical inflection point and opportunity for our industry. Here’s why:
The network operator unleashed
Network functions virtualization and software-defined networking were omnipresent acronyms in Barcelona, Spain. At this early stage, NFV has a lot of fathers giving it different definitions. To me it is simple: NFV replaces proprietary network components and equipment with software enablement (SDN) of the mobile network itself. With network functions virtualized in the control layer, the network itself becomes the platform for innovative new products and services.
The magnitude of the opportunity this represents for mobile network operators – finally unleashed, unlocked and unbound from historically rigid business structures – cannot be overstated. Large network operators have made it known that technology partners and suppliers who grasp this new opportunity of virtualized and converged network infrastructure will be embraced as treasured allies in this new innovation landscape.
Analytics, analytics and more analytics
Just as prevalent in Barcelona was the phrase “telecom analytics.” It was astonishing how many announcements included the words “big data” or “data analytics” (or both). Offerings from startups and incumbents meant that incredibly powerful new tools and platforms will give operators game-changing visibility and actionable intelligence about their networks – and the subscribers who use them.
Like virtualization, telecom analytics will be genuinely transformative for the network service provider business, including cable companies, broadband network operators and even utilities. As mobile networks continue to evolve, the growing abundance of analyzable data delivers the potential to unlock value possibilities we could not previously have even known existed.
The latent power of big data is transforming all industries, and big data analytics will generate unprecedented transformations and opportunities for mobile network operators.
Spectrum takes a backseat
Spectrum efficiency, a topic that alarming capacity-demand forecasts should cause to be front and center, did not produce as many headlines or press releases as it probably deserved.
Spectrum “sharing” has generated a great deal of recent discussion, but like NFV, “sharing” has come to mean different things to different people, with very different implications for resulting spectrum efficiencies. It remains an open question as to whether spectrum sharing is a viable solution to the increasing demand for mobile Internet, so perhaps the combined imprecision and uncertainty contributed to the spectrum’s muted presence along the Las Ramblas.
Loud and clear, however was the buzz of inevitability – the fundamental shift of networks becoming the platforms where operators and their strategic partners will create and deploy extraordinary innovation and intelligence.
Ned Taleb is executive chairman and co-founder of Nexius, the leader in delivering end-to-end wireless services and software solutions to industries worldwide. Follow Ned on Twitter at @NedTaleb and Nexius at @NexiusInc.
