Hans Vestberg, CEO of number one infrastructure vendor Ericsson, used his Mobile World Live keynote tonight to outline the importance of technology in enabling the networked society.
In a presentation which was rich with visual concepts of a connected future, Vestberg described progress in the industry in recent years as “mind boggling.” The executive noted that there are still many areas of growth. Citing the fact that smartphone penetration globally is around 10 percent, he argued, “You can say two things. One, that’s quick growth of 10 percent. Two, you can also say, that’s 90 percent to go.”
Vestberg reiterated the company’s forecast that by 2020 there will be 50 billion connected devices, noting that this will transform the world. “As we all know, when one person gets connected, their life changes. When everything connects, the world changes. And we are in the midst of this as an industry,” he said.
Vestberg was joined on stage by Johan Wibergh, EVP and head of business unit networks, who noted, “Our job is really to support the operators, to create the best networks so that operators can differentiate and can deliver the services that customers expect.”
The network head noted three areas of focus needed to deliver high-quality connectivity, optimising the macro network, to get the best capacity and coverage from resources, adding to and improving the density of the network to get “cheap and effective” coverage where possible; and adding small cells, to improve coverage in areas of high traffic density.
When identifying areas for future growth, Vestberg said, “I think the next big thing will be enterprises transforming their businesses by using these types of tools. And we are going to be there to support that.”
