CTO – IDEAS ABOUT INNOVATION!

Why are Wireless firms like Flying Cows ?

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Picture Credit: Tumblr- The flying cows in Twister were created using the wire frame models of flying zebras from Jumanji

Update: Verizon purchased LQD WiFi on 14 November, 2016, a developer of outdoor interactive displays that provide WiFi connectivity along with news, emergency alerts and community information. They also act as sensors collecting crowd, weather and other data. This is the fourth acquisition this year made by Verizon to build up its Internet of Things business, which is a complement to Verizon’s other acquisition strategy based around consumer-focused media companies (among those, it’s in the process of buying Yahoo and last year acquired AOL, which owns TechCrunch). Other acquisitions in IoT have included Sensity Systems to add LED light controlling technology; telematics company Fleetmatics for $2.8 billion in August; and Telogis for more connected car technology.

Verizon Wireless just released a study here about their outlook for the Internet of Things (now “legitimate”) and the role their broadband wireless service offering will play in IoT. The wireless industry is likely to consolidate following the conclusion of the ongoing FCC incentive auction of 600 MHz airwaves. And the role of Chief Technology Officer or CTO at wireless firms has been challenging this year with key issues of:

Phone Safety – Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and Apple iPhone (?) fires
Wide Net National Security – AT&T’s BIG NSA business at your expense
Privacy – the FBI tried to get the master encryption key for iPhones
CyberSecurity – the staggering lack of security for Android users like Google’s Pixel phone

FierceWireless has a fabulous series featuring network CTOs, part of a larger focus on CTOs in technology.

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Picture Credit: Pinterest

Here’s a quick synopsis of Verizon’s CTO but the common thread is that they are Tracking You! Surprised? That will be the central element of “Customer-focused” service delivery under fixed broadband wireless next year. Prepare to feel like a stormchaser dodging flying cows bundled as BIG Apps! CEO Lowell McAdam said fixed 5G services will be profitable enough for Verizon to pursue regardless of an eventual move to mobile 5G. “The use case for me that gets you over the hump on investing in the technology is the one that’s right in front of us right now and that’s a fixed wireless play,” he pledged at the May 2016 J.P. Morgan Conference.

Verizon- Roger Gurnani:

A. Experienced hand: “He was a founding officer of Verizon Wireless and until 2005 served as the carrier’s vice president and CIO, helping to oversee the integration of the domestic wireless operations of Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch and GTE.”

B. Broad Roles: His tasks includes network and technology planning, development of architecture and roadmaps, continued evolution of digital platforms and oversight and direction for the CIO and CTO teams across Verizon.

C. Run the Factory: Gurnani focuses on IT and digital technologies aimed at increasing customer engagement plus the core function to “run the factory,” as he described it in a Forbes interview here.

D. Densification: Gurnani charted his team’s path to best expand and densify Verizon’s LTE network through carrier aggregation, small cells and other techniques with its public launch of “LTE Advanced technology”.

E. 5G Deployment: Seen as an extension of LTE, Verizon has been outspoken about its intention to be the first U.S. wireless carrier to deploy 5G in 2017. The extenders include “network design concepts” such as C-RAN, low/tight RF design via small cells, self-optimized networks, virtualized core networks and various IoT-centric flavors of LTE as well as NB-IoT will all pave the way for technical evolutions toward 5G. Verizon is also focused on massive MIMO beam forming and unlicensed spectrum to add capacity.

F. Wireless High-Speed Broadband: With LTE, Verizon expects to offer 50% faster peak wireless data speeds to more than 288 million pops in 461 cities. As such, expect A LOT of FIOS advertising over the holidays (even to taunt sociopaths). During the summer, it conducted tests in New Jersey showing fixed wireless speeds of up to 1.8 gigabits per second. Verizon is using a point-to-multipoint solution, with equipment transmitting in the 28 GHz spectrum band – gaining over 100 licenses in the band as part of its purchase of XO Communications.

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Picture Credit: SBC Hubspot

With any wireless carrier (or public network in general), AVOID exposing account numbers and passwords on your wireless phone at all times, advises Digital Guardian with 101 tips here. ZDNet has a cautionary note about the “Year in Hacks”:

Tag: CTO

Verizon Wireless CTO – More Services Coming Like Flying Cows!

Common Threads of Wireless CTOs – Tracking YOU!