Feb 6, 2022

Fudge Sunday - 99 6G Balloons

This week we take a look at Mobile World Congress 2022, marketing, memes, and the growing democratization of mobile technology.

NENA | 99 Luftballons [1983] [Offizielles HD Musikvideo]

Getting Informed

Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2022

In just three weeks the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will begin. The telco industry discussion will continue to crossover into new industries via silicon, spectrum, software, solutions, and services.

Practitioners, pundits, and playmakers will “reconnect, reimagine, and reinvent” to turn the tropes of movies into the growth engines of our next global economic expansion.

What are the vendor themes this year? (emphasis mine)

5G Connect (Industry, 5G to 6G, Sustainability, Partnerships)
Advancing AI (Data and Automation, Quantum Computing, Ethics)
CloudNet (OpenRAN, Cloud, Edge)
FinTech (Identity and Security, Payment Innovations, Metaverse)
Internet of Everything (SmartCities, Technology Adoption, Drones, Devices, People, Data, Process)
Tech Horizon (Creative Tech, Diversity4Tech, Climate, Sustainable Development Goals aka SDGs)

Source:

www.mwcbarcelona.com

Yes. 6G! Here we were just waiting for 5G.

So, how long until we see a consumer accessible democratized access to the technology?

Let’s take a look back then look ahead.

1989 = Marketing...

Setting aside the AT&T “you will” meme… the only thing holding back telecom in the 1990s was… telecom itself.

BBC Archive

@BBCArchive

#OnThisDay 1989: Blue Peter showed us that video meetings are nothing new. https://t.co/L5N0xzNmOg

6:38 AM - 6 Feb 2022

1993 = (soon to be) Memes...

The AT&T “you will” meme will reach a 30th anniversary soon.

But there’s more…

AT&T's vision of the future, circa 1993 - AT&T Archives

Fast forward 17 years…

2010 = Progress...

iPhone 4 Apple "FaceTime" 2010 Commercial

Fast forward 11 years…

2021 = More progress...

Skype and Zoom might have been first for cross mobile /desktop / device video conferencing but Apple eventually caught up late last year.

Finally...

As of late 2021, you can now join a FaceTime call from an Android or Windows device. FaceTime links arrived in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey meaning (almost) anyone can join a FaceTime call from a web browser.

Source:

support.apple.com

Fast forward to right now… and things are getting very interesting!

Building Blocks of Democratization...