As the world makes first baby steps towards the recovery from the pandemic’s impact, it is easy to lose track of the latest developments in telecom, messaging, and mobile marketing, which can help us better adapt to the new future that we face. In our very first instalment of our monthly news roundup, we bring you up to speed with the hot topics for the month of March.
How can telecom help restore the order and what are the challenges?
Uneven tempos of vaccination mean a new approach to messaging
The EIU argue that future economic recovery will be predicated on the extent to which countries can reopen, which in turn is reliant on vaccine availability. Those countries where vaccine rollout is lagging (85 countries may not reach widespread availability until 2023) will likely see a much slower recovery. This will naturally have an effect on how companies use messaging, whether that be promotional, notifications, or authentications, as some countries and territories are likely to go through a few more lockdowns, becoming increasingly dependent on e-commerce and remote work. Enterprises will need to keep adapting their strategy and MNOs will need to anticipate future traffic fluctuations.
It is not a proper turmoil if there is no brigands
According to SonicWall’s latest research, the number of cyberattacks has risen to a record during the pandemic. In 2020, when people were forced to work from home, cybercriminals have carried out 304.6 million cyberattacks — 62% more than in 2019. Retail, healthcare and the public sector were hit hardest.
What about the connectivity?
5G has been hyped up for quite a while now. However, 2021 is the year when we are likely to feel the difference, as well as observe new developments in mobile connectivity.
5G is about to take off for real in 2021
According to Ericsson and Statista, the number of subscribers using 5G on their smartphones will grow to 600 million by the end of this year, nearly triple the number in 2020. Moreover, by 2022 5G is finally about to become the de-facto standard breaking the one billion user mark.
Global Enterprises increase investments in advanced wireless
The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating wireless investment, claims Deloitte. For most global corporate entities, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 have become valuable tools, that can help address the lack of workforce mobility by improving remote collaboration, preserving the social distance between coworkers through real-time location tracking, and other similar applications that might help prevent future disruptions. Fulfilling the promise of advanced wireless initiatives, particularly those involving 5G, involves a complex ecosystem of players, including application and cloud providers, wireless carriers, consultants and integrators, equipment manufacturers, and infrastructure providers.
LG has recently announced that its new 6G network, currently developed in partnership with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will launch in 2029. LG claims 6G will provide faster data speed, lower latency and higher reliability than 5G, and will be able to bring the concept of Ambient Internet of Everything (AIoE), which provides an enhanced connected experience to users.
Marketing landscape
This March we have witnessed both the logical development of last year’s tendencies and some surprising revelations.
It is official: shopping apps rank second in popularity after music apps, according to HelpCentre’s latest study. In 2020, online shopping became a daily activity for all generations, with millennials being most active by far, accounting for 73% of all online purchases.
YouTube jumps on the short videos bandwagon
This month YouTube announced the beta launch of their Shorts service — bite sized videos that can be created entirely with a smartphone. It is not clear how they plan to monetise this yet, but it is obviously that YouTube are looking to create a rival to TikTok in order to retain users and content creators alike, which can be especially impactful in the light of TikTok’s sale to Walmart Inc. and Oracle Corp. that has been shelved indefinitely as the Biden administration takes on a broad review of national security risks posed by Chinese technology companies. As a reminder, Shorts’ first successful test launch took place in India, where TikTok is already banned.
A surprising revelation courtesy of eMarketer’s new research: more than half of US adults said they have never shopped for goods via voice and have no interest in trying voice shopping. Moreover, only 9% of US adults have ever shopped via voice, and only 2% have done so regularly.
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