Looking Beyond the Mobile Phone

Why the Network Will Drive the Next Wave of Mobility

Forty years ago, the first phone call was placed on a handheld mobile phone. The call was placed by Martin Cooper at Motorola’s Communications Systems Division, who phoned a competitor at Bell Labs—and launched a new era. The brick-like prototype he used weighed two pounds and cost nearly $4,000.

Reflecting on the first mobile phone call also gives us a great opportunity to think about where mobile communication will take us in the years to come. In a few short decades, cell phones have evolved from a clunky appliance used mainly by high-powered businesspeople, into a key part of everyday life.

People of all ages use phones and mobile devices for personal and business communications, music and video entertainment, social networking, shopping and payment, banking, navigation, and much more. And the changes don’t stop here. As mobile devices evolve, people will expect an even more personalized experience—one that works on their terms and adapts to their needs, safely and securely.

Devices alone aren’t enough to meet these new expectations. To drive the next wave of mobility, the indoor network and the mobile device working together will become more important than ever. And it will need to constantly evolve and become more intelligent to keep pace with smaller, smarter connected devices.

The Internet of Everything is emerging today, with people, processes, data, and things all connecting to one another and collaborating together as the mobile internet is becoming a necessity on par with power, light and water. The intelligent network is what makes all of these connections more valuable, personalized, and relevant.

Network intelligence gives organizations insight not only into what is connecting, but how and why those connections are happening and collaboration happens after these connections are made.  They can make sure that the right information is safely delivered to the right person or device, at the right time. With the exponential growth of data in our lives, we will need to use the information in the network to help mobile users get to the information that is relevant to them within two clicks on their mobile devices.  It’s about expanding the experience beyond what we know today.

For example, by tracking a consumer’s location and online activity in real time, a retailer at the mall can develop an up-to-the minute view of customers—and use the context of the mobile users’ location to mobilize the local services and information that is relevant to them, once the shopper securely opts-in to receive this service. Shoppers then get a more personalized, timely experience, and retailers gain new ways to understand and reach out to customers and increase their bottom-line.

There’s no doubt that tomorrow’s network devices will continue to become smaller, cheaper, adaptable and more specialized. But the network itself will be the key that unlocks the real potential of mobility. Is your organization’s network ready to support the next wave of connections?