Kagan: Judging the 2015 CTIA Awards

Once again I would like to thank CTIA for inviting me to be a judge in its 2015 CTIA Awards. There are so many companies – large, small, new and old – with so many innovative ideas. This year’s entries are exciting in their own slice of the pie. And the wireless industry is like a growing pie with lots of different slices. Let’s take a closer look at some of those new ideas and what’s coming next in wireless.

I’ve been a wireless analyst for more than 25 years, so I grew up along with the wireless industry. It has been a rapidly growing and changing space. Every few years something big transforms the entire industry, so the annual CTIA Super Mobility 2015 show is a great place to take its temperature, see where it is today and what we can expect next.

I regularly hear from companies that want to punch their way onto the very noisy map. They update me on what they are doing, introduce me to their new technology and ask me how they can be heard. It is getting tougher to break through the noise since there is so much of it in the wireless industry.

One of many things I tell them is to become active with the CTIA and the annual show. This is a great way to be found and make a difference.

This year’s CTIA award program has three categories:

Emerging Technology Awards: Which are the most innovative in emerging mobile services, solutions and network technology?

Hot for the Holidays: What are the hottest mobile consumer electronics products and applications for this year’s holiday season?

The MobITS: What are the best mobile IT solutions of this year?

CTIA received hundreds of entries this year, encompassing different technologies from different companies in different sectors of the industry, which shows the sheer amount of determination and manpower present in the wireless industry today – from many companies we know and many others we never heard of. These awards are about new technology that is not only important to users, but can often change the industry.

You may recognize that I regularly write about many of these companies and technologies. I also give interviews and talk about them. I always look forward to hearing about what’s new and what’s coming next: technology and ideas that will change and enhance the wireless experience we all have.

Wireless helps business grow

Wireless is blending with other industry segments like Internet, telephone, cable television and IPTV. Wireless also helps to transform many industries like health care, automotive and retail. Wireless improves the way we conduct business, sales operations, customer service and so on. Wireless makes it easier and in fact creates new ways to think about doing things. All that helps business grow and helps users transform their lives.

This is important for customers, industry workers, companies and investors. When we think of wireless, we generally think of the big brand-name networks like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile US. Or perhaps smartphone makers like Apple iPhone, Google Android, Samsung Galaxy and many others.

However, there are so many more companies participating in the smartphone and wireless revolution that are seldom known. Companies that provide the technology that makes your smartphone work better. Non-wireless companies, which use the wireless networks or smartphones. All these different sectors, companies and technologies are at this year’s CTIA show.

Look at all the categories this year:

• Accessories
• Connected Car
• Connected Home
• Devices and Gadgets
• Entertainment, Audio, Music and Video
• Wearable’s, Health, Fitness and Wellness
• Mobile Applications, Development and Platforms
• Mobile Customer Experience Management
• Mobile Device Management
• Mobile Enterprise Innovation
• Mobile Security and Privacy
• In-Building Wireless like small cells, Wi-Fi and LAN
• M2M, IoT, Sensors, RFID & NFC
• Mobile Cloud
• Mobile Marketing and Advertising
• Mobile Money, Payments, Banking and Commerce
• Wide Area Network – Core
• Wide Area Network – RAN

Wireless is the center of the universe going forward

There are countless companies behind each of these categories. And wireless is continuing to expand into other industries and technologies as well. Wireless is the center of the universe for the next generation of our society.

As you can see, these are all interesting and important spaces in the wireless world to both consumers and business customers. Consumers generally are more interested in certain apps and features and business customers are interested in others.

Wallet, keys and smartphone

The smartphone is becoming as important a tool as our wallet or our keys for both our personal and business lives. In fact, today we never leave the house without our wallet, keys and smartphone. Tomorrow, however, we’ll just have to grab the phone.

Increasingly, our smartphones store more personal and important information and we use it for more all the time. We use it as our credit cards, our insurance ID holder, it starts our cars and opens our doors, and it does more every day.

Of course all this excitement has its dark side as well. Problems such as loss of privacy and loss of personal and private information when the phone becomes lost, stolen or broken.

All of this is what the CTIA show in Las Vegas will showcase. New ideas and solutions are all over the place at the show. Wandering the aisles and sitting in on the many announcements and briefings is a great place to get up to speed on wireless. It’s also a great place to wander from booth to booth to see what’s coming next.

During the course of the year I always expect to hear from quite a few companies, old and new, about their technology that can change the wireless world. Wireless is such an exciting and explosive growth-oriented industry for everyone whether a worker, partner, executive, investor or customer. And the CTIA Super Mobility 2015 show is a great place to get the current lay of the land. Enjoy the show!