Wireless Pundits Cover What’s Hot

Atlanta’s Wireless Technology Forum held its annual analyst event on November 15 at Atlanta Tech Village in Buckhead. A packed house was present to hear four wireless industry experts discuss emerging wireless services, disruptive forces, the latest innovations in mobility and what we can expect in the future.

Wells Fargo Securities Managing Director Jennifer Fritzsche presented Wall Street’s view of the wireless industry, with a focus on three key themes:

• Wireless operators are pursuing very divergent strategies: AT&T is focused on integrating Time Warner assets, and its wireless strategy centers on a bundling approach that combines linear/over-the-top video, content and wireless services. Unlike AT&T, Verizon sees no near-term need to own linear content and prefers to be an over-the-top video/content distributor. And, if the T-Mobile/Sprint deal is approved, the “New T-Mobile” will have the most impressive spectrum assets of any of the three remaining players as well as a strong platform to compete with Verizon and AT&T in a 5G world.
• The hype around 5G is slowly turning into reality. There is currently an arms race to become the first to launch 5G services, which will bring lower latency, higher throughput and longer battery life to the mobile ecosystem.
• Spectrum remains the lifeblood of wireless networks as evidenced by the increasing demand for ultra-high band.

Accenture’s NA Network Practice Managing Director Miguel Myhrer shared how 5G can accelerate smart cities and create jobs if municipal leaders support it through smart regulation. According to Myhrer, telecom operator investment of $275 billion into 5G will help to create up to 3 million jobs and $500 billion in economic growth by 2026.

5G is also expected to save cities billions and reduce crime, with:

• $14 million in savings for energy companies that utilize sensors and control devices;
• Fuel savings of 25 percent achievable through the adoption of traffic management, parking management and vehicle-to-vehicle communications; and
• Public safety improvements with increased sensors and high capacity surveillance.

Myhrer also discussed how Accenture is partnering with the city of Atlanta to define a 2030 Smart Atlanta vision to ultimately develop a holistic and integrated Smart City execution plan. Wireless connectivity was identified as the foundational capability, and Accenture helped the city prioritize use cases such as public kiosks and smart street lights to help empower underserved populations with access to information and simultaneously generate new revenue streams.

GSMA Director of Strategy Development Michael Poffenberger presented data from the GSMA Intelligence report from September 2018. With a focus on the U.S. region of the world, the report highlights included:

• Projected market shares following the T-Mobile/Sprint merger for subscribers, total spectrum and sub1GHz spectrum;
• A comparison between 4G and 5G take-up paths, where it was reported that consumer take-up of 5G will require time to evolve, with an expectation of 38 percent penetration five years after launch (2023), well below LTE on the same basis (54 percent); and
• Revenue distribution among the operators which illustrates how AT&T and Verizon have reshaped their businesses with entertainment and media assets to complement traditional communications—with AT&T having roughly equal contributions from entertainment and mobile, justifying its claim to be a modern entertainment company.

For more reports from GSMA, visit www.gsmaintelligence.com.

inCode Consulting Vice President Jorge Fuenzalida shared futuristic early use cases of 5G in consumer and enterprise markets, including:

• Augmented reality (AR) in-venue that gives event spectators information, games and directions displayed on AR glass;
• Mobile AR/VR gaming where games augment physical worlds with alternative environments via smartphones or smart glasses;
• Holographic performances and the ability to communicate through chats;
• Immersive training to accelerate employee knowledge and experience; and
• Robotics and drones capable of performing delicate tasks in difficult, repetitive or dangerous areas.

Every year since 2003, inCode has issued a Top 10 Predictions report focusing on key trends in the telecom, media and technology sectors. Based on the innovative developments we heard, we look forward to reading inCode’s 2019 predictions when they are unveiled on January 1, 2019.

The next Wireless Technology Forum meeting will be January 17, 2019, and will feature a panel discussion on blockchain adoption. For more information, visit Wireless Technology Forum’s website to read about membership benefits and upcoming events. To view a recap of the annual analyst event, as well as recaps of all previous panels, visit the events page.