EVENTS Mobile World Congress
“Computing is no longer confined to a device or even a single datacentre. Instead, it’s ubiquitous fabric, it’s
distributed from the cloud to the edge, closer to where data is generated, and with the ability to adapt to the
wide range of inputs, whether it’s touch, speech, vision or gestures.” Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
software, to the shiny new
5G-ready Samsung Galaxy S10.”
The Devices
We were expecting 5G devices
from the event this year and were
not disappointed. During the
show, Chinese manufacturers
ZTE and Nubia debuted their
rst 5G designs, the ZTE Axon
10 Pro 5G and the Nubia Mini
5G. Sony and OnePlus made
sure to highlight their intentions
to release 5G options later in the
year.
We now have six competitive
5G modems available to the
market, including solutions
from Qualcomm, Samsung,
Intel, Mediatek, HiSilicon and
UNISoC.
Huawei even wowed the
crowds by announcing their
new foldable device, the Mate X,
would have a 5G capability.
Wayne Lam, principal analyst,
mobile devices and networks,
IHS Markit commented “ere
was no doubt about the “best in
show” smartphone. e Huawei
Mate X foldable 5G smartphone
is an out-folding smartphone that
unfurls into a contiguous eightinch
tablet.
Foldable smartphones are the
rst signicant change in mobile
form factors in nearly a decade.
Not since capacitive multi-touch
technology, which allowed
device makers to simplify user
interactions onto a single piece
of glass, has there been a more
ground-breaking mobile design.”
“Cost is the key factor that
will hinder adoption,” said
Canalys’ senior analyst Ben
Stanton. Huawei’s Mate X will
start at €2,229 and be available in
the middle of 2019, though costs
could come down as volumes
scale up.
IoT Progress
One clear indicator technology is
bedding into our business world
is simply everyone starts talking
about something else. IoT was
everywhere yet again, it just
wasn’t getting the headlines like
it used to.
Gartner reported that 59%
of organisations believe 5G’s
ability to support high densities
of IoT sensors will be the top use
for the next-generation mobile
networking technology.
McPhilips commented,
“MWC was a vivid reminder
that we’ll soon be living in a
world with billions upon billions
of connected devices. From
potentially life-saving smart
health applications to supply
chains and digital transformation
in Industry 4.0, IoT wove itself
into just about every facet of
the event. ere was a big focus
on cellular connectivity tech
such as LTE-M and NB-IoT.
Manufacturers can no longer
simply provide a SIM slot, slap in
a SIM and say their job is done—
devices now come equipped with
or have upgrade paths ready for
specic narrowband connective
technologies.
As smarter solutions are
developed and operators create
more powerful networks, the
channel is in prime position to
eectively deploy, grow, and scale
IoT solutions for their customers.”
In his keynote speech at
MWC 2019, Microsoft CEO
Satya Nadella, spoke about the
merits of putting intelligence at
the edge of an IoT network.
“Computing is no longer
conned to a device or even
a single datacentre,” he said.
“Instead, it’s ubiquitous fabric,
it’s distributed from the cloud to
the edge, closer to where data is
generated, and with the ability to
adapt to the wide range of inputs,
whether it’s touch, speech, vision
or gestures.”
Communications on demand
How often have we seen carriers
package up solutions and
compete against the Channel? At
a recent event I attended prior to
MWC one very vocal CEO of
a UC vendor stood up and said
“Why would anyone buy UC
from a carrier, they are not UC
specialists… would you buy a car
from France Telecom?”
I put this to Ribbon’s CMO
& EVP Business Development
Patrick Joggerst, he said “It’s
exactly the sweet spot for a
carrier, the number of carriers I
have met over the years who will
sell a PBX just to get the services,
it’s a lot! I always tell them to put
it in the cloud and run it over
EXPERIENCE SIP pons
Spcial unl prics aailal Call 01403 224450 www.soscommunications.co.uk
46 | Comms Business Magazine | April 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
April.ai 5 14/03/2019 14:31:51
WHAT IS NEW IN PAYMENTS?
Andre Stoorvogel, Director, Product Marketing, Rambus Payments
“Following MWC last year, it was clear that the rapid growth of online and
IoT payments was hugely exciting, but potentially an open goal for hackers.
This has proved to be the case, with retailers expected to lose $130 billion
through card-not-present fraud over the next five years.
Payment tokenization has already been hugely successful in securing
in-store mobile payments. But with in-store just one piece of an everexpanding
payments puzzle, there was a clear need to move towards a fully
tokenized digital payments ecosystem.”
>
/www.soscommunications.co.uk
/www.commsbusiness.co.uk