AT&T Mobility CEO Glenn Lurie focused keynote speech on use cases, benefits of IoT and 5G for consumers
LAS VEGAS – The “internet of things” and “5G” may still be technology advances on the horizon, but at this week’s CTIA Super Mobility event you would think by the number of times those topics were discussed and excitement surrounding those plans that the horizon was just a day away.
During an opening day keynote address, Glenn Lurie, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Services, touched on a number of items necessary of the trade organization’s ranking chairman, but a big focus was reserved for the topic du jour.
In terms of the ongoing move toward 5G, Lurie noted the industry needs to remain focused on making the move seamless for consumers, highlighting the point by stating consumers in the “connected life” will use just one application per day instead of the more than one dozen used on average today.
Lurie used the migration to “4G” as an example of the method the industry needs to take as it transitions network support to meet this simplified approach to accessing information for consumers.
In terms of the growing hype surrounding the internet of things, Lurie said he expects at some point “everything with a current running through it will be connected.”
“Connected devices are smart, and nonconnected devices are dumb,” he said, and the future is about smart devices.
Lurie noted AT&T sees the 9 billion connected devices today growing to 23 billion connected devices by 2020, and to 75 billion by 2025.
But, just like his views on 5G, Lurie said a focus on the consumer experience needs to be paramount. Those “consumers” may be larger than just a single person in term of enterprises, or more diverse in terms of various markets and verticals, but that focus on usability needs to remain.
“We need to do it in a simple, seamless and effortless way,” Lurie said. “We can’t intimidate them.”
Lurie finished his speech by stating a long-held industry request for a light regulatory approach from the government in order to foster investment and innovation across the market. The AT&T exec also included the ongoing request for more spectrum, touting the Federal Communications Commission’s recent work in freeing up high-band spectrum assets as part of its Spectrum Frontiers proceedings.
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