Month: January 2016

CES 2016: Day Two – My Favorite Vendors & the Stories They Tell

by Peter Jarich, posted in Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation
Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich

Summary Bullets:

  • With 3,800 exhibitors, CES 2016 included a fair share of startups aiming to make their mark in the consumer technology space.
  • Whether or not any move beyond startup status, they still highlight a number of important themes: home broadband and IoT service management, monetization opportunities for service providers, niche wearables and the role of analytics.

While the themes and technologies dominating CES change from year to year, one thing seems to remain the same. Every year, if you’ve attended CES, someone’s likely to ask you the same two questions. First comes: “What’s the coolest thing you saw?” This is followed by: “Did you find any startups doing something interesting?” Continue reading “CES 2016: Day Two – My Favorite Vendors & the Stories They Tell” →

CES 2016: Day One – Setting the Stage for IoT

by Peter Jarich, posted in Het Nets, Internet of Things, Net Transformation, Vendor Transformation
Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich

Summary Bullets:

  • Beyond drones and phones, AR/VR and connected car, the building blocks of an IoT ecosystem – from silicon to network technologies – were a major part of what people came to CES 2016 to discuss.
  • While IoT deployments are moving forward, the need to build out foundational aspects of the ecosystem at the connectivity layer suggests that expectations of spectacular near-term growth should be tempered.

On the first official day of CES 2016, we saw more news and announcements around the pre-hyped themes that I mentioned earlier; from new smartphone launches to virtual reality headsets to differentiation within the wearables space, my colleagues have been diligently covering most of them. As I continued to focus on what CES 2016 could teach us about network evolutions and service provider technology trends, one thing stood out: IoT. In particular, it was almost impossible to ignore all of the ways in which vendors came to Las Vegas to showcase how they were advancing IoT device and network capabilities. Continue reading “CES 2016: Day One – Setting the Stage for IoT” →

CES 2016: Day Zero – Has AT&T Finally Got Its Developer Summit Right?

by Peter Jarich, posted in Het Nets, Net Transformation, SDN/NFV, Vendor Transformation
Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich

Summary Bullets:

  • While scheduled in the run-up to CES, AT&T’s Developer Summit has slowly evolved towards a focus on B2B and B2B2C applications. With IoT and smart city initiatives taking center stage, 2016 was no exception.
  • If the objective of the summit is to drive developer activity that directly benefits AT&T, this evolution is a good thing.

Even before CES kicked off (the official Day One is January 6th), the key themes and topics were well discussed in the media: virtual reality/augmented reality, drones, IoT and wearables, smart home innovations, connected audio, and smartphone and tablet launches from insurgent players. Pre-launches and pre-briefings virtually ensured that these predictions would be accurate and the announcements coming just prior to the show essentially verified them. Continue reading “CES 2016: Day Zero – Has AT&T Finally Got Its Developer Summit Right?” →

What Got Ignored in 2015: The Technologies, Topics, and Events You Overlooked

by Peter Jarich, posted in Het Nets, Net Transformation, OSS/BSS/CEM, SDN/NFV, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation
Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich

Summary Bullets:

  • Every year, many of our analyses get largely ignored – read many fewer times than the rest. In 2015, the topics of these reports were varied, including: big data, OSS/BSS, branding, video, SDN/NFV solutions and corporate acquisitions.
  • In many ways, the least read reports shared common themes with the most read reports. To that end, all include important insights key for telecom vendor and operator success.

Looking at the top-read reports of 2015 (see What Was Hot in 2015: The Technologies, Topics, and Events You Cared About) was an exercise in tracking what was most important in telecom over the last year. It might not be surprising, then, that SDN/NFV, 5G and strategic vendor moves (acquisitions and partnerships) dominated the list. Against that backdrop, it should be surprising that many of the same topics were well represented in a list of our least-read reports. And yet, looking at reports that generated well below average readership (25% or less of the average 2015 report), this is exactly what we found; reports focused on SDN/NFV, 5G, vendor acquisitions…not to mention video solutions, data analytics and back-office evolutions.

The message? Continue reading “What Got Ignored in 2015: The Technologies, Topics, and Events You Overlooked” →

What Was Hot in 2015: The Technologies, Topics, and Events You Cared About

by Peter Jarich, posted in Het Nets, Net Transformation, OSS/BSS/CEM, SDN/NFV, Ultra Broadband, Vendor Transformation
Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich

Summary Bullets:

  • In 2015, SDN and NFV continued to dominate our “most read reports” list, with 5G gaining interest as well.
  • Beyond specific technologies, major vendor moves – partnerships and acquisitions – garnered plenty of attention.
  • Ignoring smaller vendors or less buzzed-about technologies could be dangerous if it leaves vendors and service providers exposed to disruptive market forces.

In an attempt to provide insight into a wide array of telecom network trends and technologies, it’s only natural that some of our analyses will be better read than others. That attention may be due to any number of factors, but interest in the topic is generally the most important driver. In other words, reports about topics that people care about should be the most read, with the top analyses of 2015 pointing to the most important trends and themes of the year. Continue reading “What Was Hot in 2015: The Technologies, Topics, and Events You Cared About” →