Kagan: WMS brings wireless to cruise ship passengers, crew, operations

Recently, I had lunch with the CEO and senior executives of WMS, who wanted to get on my radar. They are one of the quiet companies in the wireless space that nonetheless has an important role in today’s cruise ship industry. In todays always connected world, passengers, crew and operations need to stay connected and wireless is obviously the technology. 

WMS has been bringing wireless connectivity to cruise ships for twenty years. Today, the heat from innovation is being turned up as new wireless and AI technology continue to advance.

5G, AI, private wireless are expanding in the cruise ship industry

One of these is expanding the reach of wireless service to the cruise ship industry. This is not new. It has been ongoing for decades already. That being said the industry is expanding with 5G, AI, private wireless and more, helping those on the cruise ship to stay connected.

Imagine being on vacation, on a cruise ship on the high-seas, cruising to port after port. Now, imagine not being connected to the world. No cell phone signal, no phone calls, no text messages, no social media, no web surfing… nothing.

That was the way it was for as long as we can remember. However, in the last two decades WMS has been working with the cruise ship industry improving their wireless reach, year after year.

You may ask about satellite phones. This is one option. However, most of us use smartphones and regular wireless service. Most people simply do not own a satellite phone today. 

So, the reality of not being connected while cruising, goes against our new nature, which is to always be connected. 

Sure, in the past we wanted to stay connected, but understood why we couldn’t be while on a cruise ship.

However, things have changed in recent decades. I remember twenty years ago, when there was no coverage, we brought walkie-talkies to keep in touch with each other while on-board.

Sure, this was a Fred Flintstone solution, in what has become a George Jetson world, but hey, it worked and that was all we had at the time.

Today we live in an always on, always connected world

Fast-forward to today, things are very different. Today, we live in an always-on, always-connected world. Today, we must be connected to our family and friends, social networks and everything else we use our smartphones and wireless services for in our lives.

Like every other business, the cruise ship industry has been growing and changing over time. It started with zero connectivity for passengers. There was simply no way to communicate. You went on a cruise, and you were disconnected from your world the entire time.

Then, the Internet was brought on-board. We were suddenly able to surf the web, do email and text messages, and many other things.

As time moved forward, cruise ships upgraded their connectivity. Today, rather than plugging your laptop into the wall and being stuck in your room, wireless technology was installed. The cost was very expensive to the user, but at least you were connected. 

Today, a piece of equipment is installed on the ship which communicates with satellites. There are also other pieces of technology installed all over the ship like WMS and Wi-Fi, bringing connectivity to every nook and cranny of the cruise ship.

WMS specializes in helping the cruise ship industry go wireless

This is the business that WMS is in. Quietly, they have become a leader in this cruise ship space, bringing wireless connectivity to passengers, crew and operations.

In fact, they say that they pioneered the first wireless network on a cruise ship around 20 years ago. As impressive as that has been, as the technology continues to advance, they continue to grow. 

In fact, as wireless voice and data continues to advance, WMS been at the center of wireless storm of the cruise ship industry every step of the way.

Challenge and growth opportunity for cruise ship industry

Today, things are very different. Today, no matter where we are, we always need to be connected. 

The pace of advancement with wireless connectivity continues to accelerate. Plus, new technology like AI will continue to fuel growth. 

This is a challenge and a growth opportunity for the cruise ship industry.

Currently, depending on the cruise line and the ship, connectivity can either be exceptional or virtually non-existent. This is becoming an ongoing challenge the cruise ship industry must deal with. 

Competition waits for no one.

We will ultimately get to a place where we will have always on, always connected cruise ship experiences. Plus, as new technology continues to roll out, cruise ships will need to upgrade and update, continually. 

Leaders and followers, like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile

Today, we are still in the very early stages of this transformational growth challenge and opportunity.

Today, there are leaders, fast-followers and others which should just get out of the way.

The leaders are first to market. They want the competitive advantage. They carve out new growth opportunities. They also take the arrows as the industry wrestles with new realities they bring to the table.

Fast-followers are also in the leadership space, except they are not first to market. They avoid the arrows. That being said, they too are one of the leaders the space and see growth.

Then there are those who should just get out of the way. These are companies who will struggle at best since they delay the transformation.

As an example, think of AT&T as a leader. They carve out new growth areas. Verizon is a fast follower. After AT&T paves the way, Verizon jumps in as one of the top two competitors. 

T-Mobile is interesting. They started out being one of the companies who should just get out of the way. However, over the past decade, under new executive leadership they transformed themselves into a leader like AT&T. And under their new CEO, they continue that journey.

5G, wireless, AI, IoT continue to transform wireless and telecom

Moving forward, new technologies like Artificial Intelligence will continue to work with the wireless industry to bring even more growth opportunities to both cellular and the cruise ship industry.

This means yet another massive growth opportunity in the wireless industry.

As I learn more about WMS and their story of wireless transformation of the cruise ship industry, I will share more with you.

Today, just know that wireless continues to be one of the fastest growing and most important core industries. It links everyone and everything. It is the technology which AI, IoT and other new technologies will be used.

Wireless will continue to fuel growth in an expanding number of other industries and all the companies within them. 

We are still at the start of this next, big growth wave. This requires new thinking from investors, workers, executives the media and everyone, whether you are a consumer or a business customer.