By Telecom Lead Team: A part of the global
telecommunications industry will be attending the 2012 Mobile World Congress.
Mobile broadband is one of the main topics, while technologies that can bring
down cost of operations and Capex will gain attraction.
Analyst firm Ovum shared the expectations of their
analysts who are likely to attend the conference in Barcelona. TelecomLead.com
is reproducing their quotes:
Moving on from the data Vanity Fair: Steven Hartley,
Telco Strategy
The progress made by operators in responding to the
increase in mobile data traffic will be interesting to note at this year’s
event. Operators are beginning to set aside old assumptions, prejudices, and
ways of doing business. While there is no doubt that we will hear a lot about
quality of service in relation to monetizing data traffic, this will be less
antagonistic than in the past.
We also expect to see more evidence of maturity and
pragmatism from operators, and fewer demands that everyone must play by their
rules. Operators’ growing realization of their position in the ecosystem means
that the watchwords at MWC will be partnership” and co-operation” as telcos
look to minimize the impact that mobile data traffic growth will have on their
profitability. Although there will be more LTE announcements, we do not expect
LTE to be portrayed as the ultimate answer to operators’ problems. Instead, it
will be one part of the wider solution.
Wi-Fi becomes part of the mobile highway: Daryl Schoolar,
Networks & Infrastructure
Wi-Fi will be a major infrastructure theme at this year’s
MWC. There have already been several product announcements prior to the
conference, highlighted by Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio Wi-Fi introduction. However,
the biggest Wi-Fi story at the event will be Ericsson’s major endorsement of
the technology, which has been demonstrated by its recent acquisition of BelAir
Networks. While Wi-Fi was once merely tolerated by the mobile community, this
year’s event will fully cement the technology as an integral part of mobile
operators’ infrastructure strategies.
Telcos put their faith in innovation: Emeka Obiodu, Telco
Strategy
Innovation will yet again be a buzzword at this year’s
event. Whether it is from the telcos themselves, the numerous vendors hoping to
partner with telcos, or the over-the-top players that can afford to go it
alone, we expect the conference to be awash with new product and service
launches. We are particularly keen to see innovations that leverage the telcos’
core capabilities in other areas.
A focus on payment to lighten the burden: Eden Zoller,
Consumer
Ovum expects to see a slew of mobile payment-related
announcements at this year’s event, spanning new services, devices, and
partnerships. Hot spots will undoubtedly include near-field communications,
which, due to increasing device support, is finally starting to look feasible
after a number of false starts. Mobile wallets have increased in popularity
over the past year, and MWC will see more activity in this increasingly
competitive market as operators battle for prime position. We also expect to
see innovation in services that add value to the core payment proposition,
particularly mobile advertising, marketing, and social- and location-based
applications.
Customer experience management: Telcos still have some
way to go to reach the Celestial City: Mark Giles, Telco Operations
Customer experience management will be the buzzword for
many of the IT vendors at this year’s conference. While the term is perhaps
becoming over-used, this only serves to demonstrate just how much work is still
required for telcos to meet their customers’ service expectations. Beyond the
usual OSS and BSS announcements, we expect to see significant activity around
software tools that provide stakeholders across the telco (and even third
parties) with better visibility, both into the internal workings of the
business and into the wealth of customer data that is held therein.
