So until a couple of years ago, this meant that I had a large collection of local mobile SIM cards I'd bought in various countries. Typically, I'd use them in a spare phone, so I could keep me normal phone on my home SIM to get inbound SMS or missed voice-call notifications. I'd also often use the second phone as a WiFi tether for my primary iPhone.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

Innovation in Regulation Technology, or RegTech, is already a huge domain, especially in sectors like financial services and healthcare. Historic methods for regulatory enforcement, from money-laundering rules, to certification of professionals, have often used reams of paperwork and had cumbersome processes. There is a huge need for automation, better provision of security and authentication, and simpler online access to regulatory resources and approval.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

I keep hearing that Edge Computing is the next big thing - and specifically, in-network edge computing models such as MEC. (See here for a list of all the different types of "edge"). 

I hear it from network vendors, telcos, some consultants, blockchain-based startups and others. But, oddly, very rarely from developers of applications or devices.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

Back in August I wrote a post on blockchain-based ICOs and tokens/coins for the telecoms space (link). Quite a lot has happened since then - including a huge boom in Bitcoin and "AltCoin" valuations and public awareness - so I thought an update was useful. 

In a nutshell - there's a growing number of telecom/networking "coins" available, with a wide variety of concepts, team backgrounds and business models. Some are very interesting, but some others are... let's say, "ambitious". And a few look like utter nonsense, seemingly lacking understanding of the relevant technology or marketplace dynamics. It's possible there's a couple of outright scams as well.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

Much of the discussion around the rationale for 5G – and especially the so-called “ultra-reliable” high QoS versions – centres on minimising network latency. Edge-computing architectures like MEC also focus on this. The worthy goal of 1 millisecond roundtrip time is often mentioned, usually in the context of applications like autonomous vehicles with snappy responses, AR/VR headsets without nausea, the “tactile Internet” and remote drone/robot control.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

I've recently focused on the critical enablers of wireless evolution, as we go towards 5G, IoT, gigabit WiFi and other technologies, especially in the enterprise.

As well as spectrum - which I've covered extensively in recent months - deploying in-building coverage is going to be another issue. This often gets overlooked by mobile strategists and policy-makers, despite its importance.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

On the 27th of September, I’m moderating a panel discussion at the ITU World 2017 conference in Busan, South Korea, on the theme of “The transformation of telecom operators: reinventing telcos.”
The session will touch on four or five key areas:

• Innovation
• Regulation
• Industry coordination
• Technology catalysts

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

A couple of weeks ago I went to Sensors Expo 2017 in San Jose. This topic is slightly outside my normal beat, but fits with my ongoing interest in "telcofuturism", especially around the intersection of IoT, networks and AI. It also dovetails well with recent writing I've done on edge computing, a webinar and paper on IoT+video for client Dialogic, and an upcoming report I'll be writing on LPWAN for my Future of the Network research stream at STL Partners.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis

The key enabler has been the software used to combine multiple connections – either to bond them together, send traffic via differential connections based on type or speed, add security and cloud-management functions, or offer arbitrage capabilities of varying sorts. It has also disrupted network operators hoping to offer NFV- and SDN-services alongside access: if only a fraction of the traffic goes through that operator’s core, while the rest breaks-out straight to the Internet, or via a different carrier, it’s difficult to add valuable functionality with network software.

Dean Bubley

Founder and Director at

Disruptive Analysis