By Henky Agusleo, Vertical Manager, and Neeraj Arora, Director, IBSG Service Provider – Singapore

A rapidly expanding, tech-savvy middle class is driving an explosion of connected mobile devices, with close to a billion smartphones and tablets in the world today. These users are looking for new cloud-based “Connected Life” experiences from their mobile devices, creating tremendous opportunities for service providers (SPs). The key is in mobile cloud. The Cisco^® Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) projects a direct worldwide mobile-cloud service opportunity of more than $60 billion by 2016, with an additional cloud pull-through market of $335 billion.

But so far, service providers have not taken the lead in offering cloud-based Connected Life services. That claim belongs to over-the-top (OTT) application developers, content providers, and device manufacturers, such as Google and Apple, who have moved quickly to take the high ground in this market.

OTTs Have First-Mover Advantage

This first-mover advantage has Read More »

Tags: app stores, Big Data, Cisco, cloud ecosystem, Connected Life, Content delivery networks, data center, First-mover, IBSG, innovation, market capitalization, mobile cloud, mobile cloud opportunity, over-the-top (OTT), pricing, Service Provider, Smartphones, Tablets, thin-client devices, virtualization, wi-fi

Mobile carriers face no shortage of pain points as new data streams create unprecedented and staggering amounts of information. But it is important to remember that pain points often arrive in tandem with new opportunities.

From my perspective, observing the driving forces shaping the mobile industry, five key trends stand out. All are laced with challenges and opportunities. And each represents a core element in an interconnected system that is pushing the entire marketplace forward, while demanding innovative breakthroughs in monetizing and optimizing data.

On February 25-28, I will be attending Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona. This year’s event is expected to be the largest ever, with 1,500 exhibitors. I expect these five trends will be major sources of discussion:

1. Video. We are already seeing the true inflection point in video where it becomes mainstream on multiple devices. The mobile and nomadic consumption of video—whether served by mobile carriers or localized Wi-Fi—is popular, commonplace, and growing rapidly. But video will completely reshape the demand side of the industry, creating enormous amounts of data. It threatens to load and clog networks, and it will demand new models for monetization.
2. Accelerating connections. As the Read More »

Tags: Big Data, Cisco, Connected Life, data, data in motion, IBSG, Internet of Everything, IoE, mobile carriers, mobile devices, mobile world congress, multiscreen, offloading, Personalization, service providers, targeted ads, video, wi-fi

By Gaetano Pellegrino, Senior Manager, IBSG Service Provider (Western Europe)

According to new research from the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), fixed broadband Internet access is the highest priority service in consumers’ entertainment and communication portfolio. Despite the advent of smartphones, they view mobile data as more expendable.

Cisco IBSG regularly tracks such issues in its Connected Life Market Watch research platform. In the fall 2011 edition, it surveyed some 3,900 broadband consumers in North America (including Canada) and France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Consumers Love Their Smartphones—but Rely on Fixed Access

According to Read More »

Tags: broadband, Cisco, Connected Life, consumer, consumer spending priorities, IBSG, mobile data, mobile phone, service providers, smartphone, wi-fi

By Jason Kohn, Contributing Columnist

You hear the term “M2M” a lot these days in the tech industry, and it means different things for different people. Broadly, machine-to-machine communications is about connecting devices — virtually any kind of devices — to network applications.

But for me, one of the most interesting aspects of M2M is the ability to improve the lives of people with disabilities or impairments by bringing them network-based tools that were previously inconceivable.

Read More »

Tags: Connected Life, healthcare, home monitoring, M2M, wireless networking

By Lionel Walters, Guest Columnist

I grew up in suburban Sydney and enjoyed many of the benefits and conveniences of life in a large and established community. I was close to family and friends, had easy access to basic services such as education and health care, and had an almost unlimited selection of entertainment and retail options. In those blissful days of my youth, I had everything I needed within a distance of a few short kilometers.

My situation changed somewhat when I started my career. For the first time I found myself joining thousands of others in a daily commute to inner Sydney. I’m sure I was not alone in feeling that the two hours of travel each day could be better spent in other pursuits, but like so many before me, I took it in stride because I believed it was the price to pay if I wanted to realize the Australian Dream.

Read More »

Tags: Asia-Pacific, Australia, broadband, Connected Life, IT, research, Tasmania, vni, VNI-SA