The mobile Internet presents a new wave of opportunities and challenges to the wireless industry. Dan Hesse, previous CEO of Sprint, shared his thoughts on the changing wireless industry and the mobile Internet in a Forbes article out today. I think his discussion of five important questions is something everyone should read.
The wireless future looks very different for the CEO, front-line workers, customers and investors. Industry growth is in the early stages of a new path. Are you prepared? Is your company prepared? That’s the challenge we must all understand. The world is changing quickly and if you are not riding this next wave, it will pass you by.
I have known Dan Hesse for decades. I followed his career as CEO of AT&T Wireless, Terabeam, Embarq and most recently Sprint, and believe he is one of the most important thinkers in the industry. While CEOs typically get distracted wrestling with quarterly earnings, Hesse has a clear understanding of what is coming and how to prepare.
Mobile Internet opportunities and challenges
Hesse and I had a conversation a few days ago, and one of the topics we discussed was the changing wireless industry and the growth of the mobile Internet. I don’t know how much time you spend thinking about this topic, but I would say if you want to be successful going forward you must understand the changes that are reshaping the wireless industry and, in fact, every industry.
Everything will change thanks to wireless. Relationships with employees, customers, investors and partners will all change. That means we must change the business model as well.
Companies involved with this transformation now are the early adopters. They are the leaders that take the arrows, but they also steer the industry in this new direction. Eventually, other companies will join the party simply because they have to compete. These are the followers.
That means while the early adopter takes the risks, it will also have the competitive advantage for a while, until everyone in the industry jumps in and it just becomes a cost of doing business. Over time, only some companies will do a great job with the mobile Internet and they will be the new leaders going forward. Others will struggle.
Leaders and followers
While it’s impossible to say who tomorrow’s winners will be at this early stage, it is important to start the ball rolling in your own company and your career. It’s also important to decide whether you and your company will be a leader or a follower.
However, whether a leader or a follower, it’s important to have a good understanding of this new opportunity and challenge because it is coming. The rules of business and success will be very different a decade from now. The new pathways are being written right now.
When I speak at meetings, I have noticed there is a change over the last few years. A few years ago the mobile Internet was not on anyone’s mind. Today it’s on everyone’s mind, but the vast majority of executives don’t yet understand it and don’t know the path to take.
Typically, in every company, the IT staff knows more than the CEO. While that’s expected, that disconnect is keeping too many companies from both advancing and leading in the mobile Internet, and properly protecting their current data and IT operations.
The early days in mobile Internet revolution
These are the early days in the mobile Internet revolution. Now is the time to get up to speed on changes and technologies and think of new and innovative ways to do business – even new areas to grow going forward. This opportunity will transform every business in every industry.
Remember, when business transforms it happens quickly. As an example, remember a few short years ago Nokia and BlackBerry led in the handset space. Today’s leaders are Apple, Google and Samsung, sending the rest to the back of the line. This major transformation happened as soon as the iPhone and Android were introduced, changing the entire smartphone industry.
Everything will change
Hesse said things like wireless, the mobile Internet and the “Internet of Things,” will touch everything in our lives. That means every product and every industry, new technology and old. It will impact and affect us in more ways than we can imagine today.
As you know, I often write on this exact topic. How the way we learn, the way we work, the economy and more will all change; how this change will impact every industry like what we see happening today with automotive, health care, retail and more; how it will transform the way we do business with sales, communications and so on. There are incredible opportunities going forward.
There are also plenty of important challenges and potholes we need to look out for. Like loss of privacy and data theft – on an individual, company and government basis. We see this in the news every day.
Some threats we know about and some we don’t. And we always find out about it after the damage is done. We are just in the very early days of many new threats, so new ways of thinking about security should be top of the agenda.
Personal and company challenge
Whether for business, home or government, there are plenty of opportunities and challenges ahead. However, since we cannot stop this train we had better get things right. That’s our personal and company challenge today.
The next decade and beyond will remain in full throttle. Expect the wireless industry to continue to expand in the areas of security, IoT and the mobile Internet. And expect wireless and the mobile Internet to be incorporated into every other industry, as well.
This presents to us a huge opportunity, challenge and threat – as all transformations do. Start a discussion in your company. Ready or not, the changes that are coming will transform life and business in industry after industry. However, we must be prepared. Get the ball rolling. Are you prepared? It’s time to start a discussion.
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