Converged
Last week’s Consumer Electronics Expo in Las Vegas is worth paying attention to for enterprise IT managers looking to get a jump on the “next big thing.” And if the sheer number of announcements is any indicator, the next big thing is 4G. 4G services are increasingly available in the U.S. and abroad. While it should be noted that there are still many disagreements as to what exactly 4G is, most providers would agree that the main characteristic of 4G is multimegabit data services. Platform vendors, content providers, and network service providers are all looking to exploit this added bandwidth to deliver innovative new services such as IP voice, video streaming and conferencing, gaming, photo sharing, and other interactive services.
Examples include the new RIM PlayBook running on Sprint’s 4G network (via 4G-WiFi card), and a slew of 4G phones supporting Verizon’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) network that it is rolling out in 2011.
Both IT and line-of-business managers should carefully follow 4G expansion and take a look at the ever-expanding universe of both 4G services and 4G devices, paying special attention to how higher public wireless can transform business processes and enable delivery of new services to customers.
