A recent trade show in the U.K. highlighted the growing opportunities available to the wireless industry thanks to increased convergence across markets
The recent Cambridge Wireless Future of Wireless International Conference provided a great opportunity to bring together representatives from many vertical industries with wireless technology providers. As ever, the attendees were highly engaged, with plenty of challenging questions, thought provoking panel and open forum discussions.
Perhaps the most interesting insight from the conference was the way in which it was clear there is a convergence of challenges across multiple vertical sectors. A lot of speakers were articulating similar challenges – in areas as diverse as health care and automotive – and this is vital for the future of wireless. Convergence opens up opportunities for greater standardization and the creation of platforms that have applications in multiple sectors, increasing efficiencies and revenue opportunities for vendors and service providers.
For example, the continuing need to improve remote and inbuilding coverage was mentioned by several speakers – particularly those from the automotive industry. The poor coverage on the U.K. road network was highlighted as a significant barrier to future innovation and revenues. The relatively poor coverage in the U.K. is a well-known issue for the wireless industry. But now transport industry players are highlighting the issue as a significant deficiency that needs to be addressed, and government departments that take an interest in transport systems are also applying pressure to improve coverage.
The topic of regulation remained ever present in a number of the industry sector sessions. Several speakers noted regulatory frameworks could put up significant resistance to wireless enabled change, which will create opportunities for disruptive startups in a number of sectors.
A final major point of convergence was the impact “over-the-top” players are having in the vast majority of vertical sectors, often already being viewed as an “incumbent” themselves. The OTT market has driven the data demand on networks and, whilst financial results indicate mobile operators have struggled to keep up with demand, the OTT market is now part and parcel of the wireless industry package. Having seen how the presence of OTT players with their global reach over the mobile internet challenges existing business models, some vertical players may be looking to defensive approaches that can resist change. To take a defensive stance is unlikely to keep the competition at bay and will certainly not create a competitive advantage.
A number of panels observed their challenges are more cultural or regulatory – rather than technological. However, such a perspective overlooks significant opportunities for vertical markets to partition technologies into manageable platforms where the pace of change in each area can be better understood.
Aside from these challenges, there were also encouraging signs of progress within a number of the vertical sectors themselves.
In the health sector, after many years of failed large IT projects implemented from the top down, there is a growing trend of putting wireless devices in the hands of front-line doctors and nurses. This is having a transformational effect on technology in health care from the bottom up.
Smart city technology trials have been ongoing for a number of years. The smart city panel explored the tipping points at which scaling up to common platforms may occur. The recently started Innovate-U.K. funded work in Manchester and the news that Singapore is establishing collaborations with countries like the U.K. start to show promising signs of the possibility of common platforms emerging.
The FinTech session also served as a good illustration of how the large incumbent banks are establishing incubators in order to increase awareness of innovation and determine how these developments could be adopted in their mainstream business.
Overall it was interesting to see that there seems to be broad recognition – both within the wireless industry and the verticals themselves – that new business models are required in a number of vertical sectors if significant new revenue growth is to be realized. What will be interesting is to see how that plays out – whether it will be directed by “top down” or “bottom up” approaches, or if large incumbents and smaller disruptors will join forces in certain sectors to nurture these new approaches.
Simon Fletcher joined Real Wireless as CTO in January 2016, taking overall technical responsibility across the company. Recognized as a regular speaker at industry events and currently acting as chairman of the Cambridge Wireless Future of Wireless Conference Organizing Committee and Small Cell SIG Champion, Fletcher brings an enviable network of contacts to Real Wireless alongside a proven ability to lead teams in delivering technical projects while identifying and meeting new strategic goals for the wider business. Fletcher spent the past 20 years working in the design and development of technical telecoms infrastructure. Beginning his career in technology demonstrators at Racal Radar Defense Systems, he moved to Telecoms Modus in 1999 to play a key role in the development of 3G products, and in 2006 he established a core architecture team that helped develop the first-generation of technology for 4G systems culminating in a Steering Board position in the LTE SAE Trials Initiative, a global forum with a mission to assure the early adoption of LTE. His long participation in common public radio interface defining early C-RAN concepts brings great foresight on an important architectural element of emerging 5G architectures.
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