Telecoms Are In A Tricky Spot—Can Tech Save Them?
Posted by Forbes on September 21, 2018:
When telecoms built their infrastructures after the Bell monopoly met its end in 1983, things were a lot simpler. A home or office would have landline phones, eventually adding a PC here and a cellphone there.
Then the world changed. Phones got smart, smartphones largely took over, and suddenly the typical citizen of the developed world (and even beyond it) was carrying a powerful little computer in his or her pocket. People began using these devices to do everything: communicate, work, talk, watch movies, play video games and so on. It's the story of our times.
And it's the story of a massive data traffic jam. Internet data volume in the United States has increased 238 percent in the past two years, an Accenture report shows. By 2021, video will account for 76 percent of all mobile data traffic.
That's the tip of the iceberg. The internet of things (IoT) will add billions of new connections in coming years. In the enterprise market, smart buildings are already transmitting energy information from their HVAC systems, factory machines are spewing out data, and hospitals are using technology to monitor patients and transmit results to professionals in real time.
This explosion of traffic places heavy demands on telecommunications companies, which provide the networks that carry all this traffic. Yet telecoms are unable to profit much from it.
Customers who watch videos and shop on cellphones use up more network resources, but telecoms continue to charge them a static monthly fee. They're reluctant to raise prices much amid intense competition. In the meantime, content providers such as Google, Amazon and Facebook are using telecoms' networks to make megabucks. Something's got to give if telecoms are to grow their revenues and serve rapidly expanding customer needs.
With the right investments, telecoms can grow their business by giving customers better solutions while reducing their own costs. Here are three crucial technologies that will help
them do just that.