By Roland Klemann, Director of Service Provider Practice, Western Europe, Internet Business Solutions Group

Although the coaxial cable may have been born in 1929, predictions of its death have been greatly exaggerated.

While traditional models for consuming television are indeed under siege—from time-shift TV, over-the-top video, and an ever-expanding array of new devices—cable remains highly relevant, even in an age of exploding data traffic. In fact, with savvy deployment of Wi-Fi services, cable providers can seize an opportunity—not in spite of the mobile data deluge, but because of it.

After all, that sleek new iPad—introduced last week while I was attending the Cable Congress in Brussels—boasts dazzling video resolution. But for network operators, it only adds to a growing problem. They are already reeling under the burden of a massive upsurge in traffic, from tablets and IP-enabled devices of all kinds. What’s worse, they are still at the low end of an ongoing mobile data explosion. Cisco’s Virtual Networking Index predicts an eighteen-fold increase in mobile traffic from 2011 to 2016.

As a result, two things are breaking down: 1) the physical capacity of the networks, and 2) their economics. Theoretically, mobile carriers can build enough macro cells to carry all the traffic in the world, but in reality, that gets prohibitively expensive—fast. No wonder some are feeling an encroaching sense of doom.

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Tags: broadband, byod, cable, carriers, Cisco, data, IBSG, mobile, Networks, offload, providers, Service Provider, Smartphones, Tablets, traffic, tv, video, wi-fi

In 97 countries around the world, there are now more mobile devices than people. No wonder mobile networks are clogged with massive amounts of new traffic! Mobile operators are struggling with how to provide the mobile broadband experience customers expect, in a cost-effective, scalable, and profitable manner. I believe that Wi-Fi, the “silent sleeper” of wireless access networks, may hold the answer.

The mobile industry is on the brink of a fundamental change. Just think of some recent key developments:

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Tags: broadband, Cisco, IBSG, integrated providers, mobile, mobile operators, service providers, Smartphones, wi-fi, Wi-Fi network providers, wireless access, wireless network

 The conference call buzz of past weeks confirms that one of the retail tech topics du jour is the quest for a “mobility strategy.”

 Requests from good retailers. Meetings with smart folks hard at work identifying use models and value-creation plays for both associates and consumers.

 No question that it’s important.

 But every retailer should be asking how important – especially consumer mobility. Especially in today’s world of cross-channel shopping.

 Let’s look at the numbers.

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Tags: Catch ‘Em and Keep ‘Em, Cisco, cross-channel shopping, interactive shopping screens, Jon Stine, mobile shopping, mobility in retail, multi-channel retailing, retail, retailing, Smartphones, tablets in shopping

This week in No Jitter, Cisco Collaboration Senior Vice President and General Manager Barry O’Sullivan looked into his crystal ball and elaborated on his predictions for 2012.

In an excerpt, Barry predicts:

“1. Post PC-era will explode

2. Video will break through

3. Contact Centers will evolve as customers choose to interact with companies in radically new ways

4. Companies will use the cloud and desktop virtualization to provide collaboration capabilities across the enterprise

5. Social business processes will become mainstream for many.”

Read Barry’s predictions in more detail and the follow-up answers Barry gave to Eric Krapf’s questions. I trust you’ll enjoy reading the article.  Send in your predictions for 2012 for collaboration, video, social software, and contact center.

Tags: Android, Cisco Cius, Cius, cloud, Cloud Computing, collaboration, contact center, desktop virtualization, desktop virtualization infrastructure, hosted contact center, IBM, IBM Connections, iPad, iphone, jabber, lync, mac, Microsoft Lync, PC, Post-PC Era, quad, RIM, smartphone, Smartphones, social, Social Business, tablet, unified communications, video

In 97 countries around the world, there are now more mobile devices than people. No wonder mobile networks are clogged with massive amounts of new traffic! Mobile operators are struggling with how to provide the mobile broadband experience customers expect, in a cost-effective, scalable, and profitable manner. I believe that Wi-Fi, the “silent sleeper” of wireless access networks, may hold the answer.
The mobile industry is on the brink of a fundamental change. Just think of some recent key developments:

• There has been massive growth in Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones, tablets, cameras, and game consoles—and nearly half of network traffic growth is Wi-Fi.
• The number of Wi-Fi access points is also exploding, with more and more free public access.
• At the same time, economic modeling by Cisco IBSG shows that mobile operators can reduce costs and improve customer experience by offloading mobile data to Wi-Fi networks. Read More »

Tags: broadband, Cisco, IBSG, integrated provider, mobile, mobile operators, service providers, Smartphones, wi-fi, Wi-Fi network providers, wireless access, wireless network