I would like to thank the Wireless Technology Forum for inviting me to speak at their upcoming Annual Analyst event in Atlanta. The theme of this meeting is “Wireless in 2016 and Beyond.” We had a conference call a few days ago to discuss logistics and content, and I thought you may be interested in hearing some of the hot topics we discussed. If you are working in, or an investor in, the wireless industry, this event may be very interesting indeed.
When consumers and business customers get all excited about all the new features and direction the wireless world moves in, they don’t realize that planning and execution started years earlier. This event, designed for wireless workers and investors, will focus on what’s coming next.
Conversations with competitors and investors
Increasingly, competitors and investors in wireless and many different industries ask me to have a conversation with them about the changes reshaping the wireless industry.
There are many changes reshaping the entire wireless industry and, in fact, many others. Competition is changing. Technology is changing. Customer expectations and demands are changing. As a result, companies are increasingly going up against new competitors as the industry reshapes itself.
Today’s leaders are not guaranteed to be tomorrow’s leaders. That is both a threat and an opportunity. It is exciting to some executives and keeps others up at night. They must make the right decisions and choices years in advance, with plenty of wins and losses going forward.
Growth side of the wave
Understanding the changes, opportunities and risks the wireless industry faces is key to success moving forward for every one of us. Not only must every person and investor in wireless understand where the opportunities are, they must also follow those opportunities.
Staying on the growth side of the wave is key. Every growth wave has three parts: it grows, it crests, it falls. Every opportunity rides a similar growth wave. Successful companies continually create and ride the next wave, continuing to grow, wave after wave.
That’s why players like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile US continue to change, expand and grow. They create and ride the growth waves, time and time again. In fact, AT&T and Verizon Communications have transformed from local phone companies to leaders in the wireless, Internet and pay-TV spaces.
Contrast that with players like Motorola, Nokia and BlackBerry as they continue to struggle. Because they didn’t have the next wave to grow on, when the growth wave they were riding crested and fell, they struggled.
Leaders and followers
The marketplace has three places: leaders, followers and those who should simply get out of the way. Leaders take the arrows, and are early movers, but they also shape the direction of the industry changes going forward. Followers ride on the path the leaders create and they compete. The rest are companies that will most likely struggle and fail.
There are many challenges and risks in wireless, just like in every other industry. However, there are also opportunities for rapid growth both in wireless and in many other industries. Just look at how wireless is impacting the automotive, retail, health care and many other industries.
Wireless and pay-TV
Now consider how wireless is transforming the cable television and IPTV space. Pay-TV is no longer just sitting at home watching programming. Pay-TV is about watching television on smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, over wireless networks, anytime and anyplace.
The pay-TV model is suddenly in the early stages of a major transformation: Who will the leaders be going forward? That’s the question investors, customers and workers all want an answer to.
Update and expand brand identity
Companies must be innovators and must update and expand their brand identities with the customer. Only succeeding in both areas will they have a chance to be a meaningful competitor going forward.
Leaders of today are not guaranteed to be leaders of tomorrow. Things are going to change. You know how this works … Apple and Google lead the wireless space today, but just a few short years ago leaders were Blackberry, Nokia and Motorola.
Two sides of wireless
The wireless industry is transforming into two different places. We used to think the two sides were networks and handsets. That’s still so, but now the network side is splitting into two different sides as well.
One side has providers like AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, and the other side has companies like Sprint and T-Mobile US. All the smaller providers are on the side of Sprint and T-Mobile US – no rights or wrongs, just different paths.
However, as we move through the next several years we may have to judge companies based on similar competitors and not the entire wireless space.
Toward 5G
We have begun thinking about the next step toward “5G.” While 4G has let carriers begin to offer video that is transforming the cable television and IPTV space, by letting users watch TV on their smartphones over the wireless network, 5G will speed up that process by many times.
Changing opportunity for workers and investors
The opportunity for workers and investors is changing. There is plenty of growth inside wireless, but there is plenty of growth outside, as well. Other industries need people with wireless knowledge to make their transformation a reality.
Early on, the leaders in other industries will jump on this challenge and have a competitive advantage, but they need help from people with wireless know-how. Then, as the industry matures, every company will jump in and it will simply become the new standard way to do business.
The next step in wireless
This Annual Analyst Event is very popular every year. We look ahead to see what’s coming and what each of us needs to focus on, whether a worker or an investor.
Each year technology lets them take this event even further. Many in the vibrant Atlanta area wireless community will be in the audience, but countless others, industrywide, will watch the event live over the Internet. In fact, it may also be available as a recorded event over the Internet going forward, making it easy to watch anyplace and anytime.
We will discuss this and so much more at the Annual Analyst Event on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. in Atlanta. Sean Kinney, Managing Editor for RCR Wireless News, will moderate the event. Jorge Fuenzalida, VP and GM of Incode Consulting, and Perry Walter, managing director of HDH Advisors will be speakers as well.
