From OTT to 5G, the telecom universe will continue to be transformed by speed and innovation in 2018. Key businesses that will be transformed by the changes in telecom and technology over the year ahead include:
- Banking
- Cable TV
- Manufacturing
- Healthcare
- Transportation
2018 could be a watershed year when it comes to the continued fusion of IT and 5G, with big companies like Verizon launching 5G home internet access in 2018. And this is just the tip of the spear. The marriage of traditional telecom with speedier and innovative communications has created an array of emerging technological opportunities.
Here are the ones to watch in 2018:
Over-the-Top (OTT) Players: Long gone are the days of being tethered to your local cable provider to watch sitcoms or the news. Look for entertainment and information to be devoured directly by consumers, increasingly served to them by big players like Google and Amazon. But keep an eye on up until now peripheral players, like MobiTV, and relative upstarts like Anevia. The market will become increasingly crowded.
Machine Learning: Aided by advances in Application Programming Interfaces (basically, a way to directly access data without some of the bells and whistles of websites), more and more companies will experiment with machine learning applications. Machine learning, which means the ability of a machine to learn without being specifically programmed, will continue to transform the telecom industry. As costs come down and access to data becomes cheaper and faster, look for the machine learning trend to accelerate.
Internet Of Things: This train has already left the station, and it will continue to rumble along faster and faster as everything from your CPAP machine to your toaster to mail delivery moves online, forming a vast Pangea of digitally connected “things.” With that will come immense opportunities to develop tighter security measures, delivery methods, infrastructure components, and ecosystem stability.
Banking On It: The most recent numbers from the FDIC show that there are 10 million unbanked in the United States. In some pockets of the United States, the number can approach 20 percent of the population being unbanked. Worldwide, the percentage is even greater, and telecoms are in a unique position to leverage their access and platforms to create new business. As the market gets saturated in traditional telecom services, creating new revenue avenues like facilitating money transfers and remittances can be appealing. There are plenty of partners out there to work with in creating seamless monetary experiences from anywhere. Checking accounts are so yesterday; consider all of the opportunities available to create seamless payment platforms for the unbanked and underbanked.
Seeing The Light: Visual Light Communication has been around for quite some time, used in its most basic form since the 1880s. But only recently has data transmission become efficient and secure using light as communications transmission. Pilot programs with supermarkets, secure payment processors, and security systems, all using some form of VLC, have been cropping up with increasing frequency across the globe. Look for more and more VLC opportunities, and if your company can leverage your infrastructure to facilitate, VLC could transform from “sleeper” to 2018’s break-out star.
Security: As everything — yes, everything — moves online, the societal vulnerability to hackers and geopolitical malfeasance grows. If you’re in this business, look for opportunities. Any product or idea that enhances cybersecurity could be a goldmine, but if you aren’t developing one, look for one because more and more will be coming into the pipeline, and keeping you and your business’s clients secure will become more important than ever.
The watchwords for 2018 in the telecommunications industry will continue to be flexible and adaptable. Watch the horizon for the changing telecom landscape and then prepare to embrace and conquer it.
