Remote working and network operators’ responses to it were key topics of concern as CCS Insight’s virtual Predictions Week event kicked off today.
Due to the restrictions on in-person events implemented by the government to counter the spread of Covid-19, the analyst firm decided to spread its annual predictions event out over a series of events held every day of the week.
These feature a keynote speech from a team of analysts covering a particular industry sector, an interview with a leading figure in that sector, and a live Q&A where viewers can send in their questions using the Twitter hashtag #ccspredicts or through the event app.
Given the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, CCS opted to take a more short-term view in comparison to last year’s event, which looked as far ahead as 2030.
“We are living in a different world to the one in front of us 12 months ago, and we have reflected this offering predictions with more near-term and actionable perspectives than in previous years,” said CCS CEO Shaun Collins. “Given current uncertainties, it is the only responsible thing to do.”
In response to the increased prevalence of remote working, CCS’ first prediction of the week is that in 2022, more than half of all office-based employees will still work from home due to its viability, regardless of the status of the pandemic.
As a consequence, a third of large firms will cut their office location spending by an average of 20 per cent by 2022, using the money saved to provide their remote workers with connectivity, security, devices and peripherals.
CCS director for consumer and connectivity Kester Mann put forward that in the next three years, governments will move to protect their national telecoms infrastructure as it has shown how critical it has become to maintaining economic strength in 2020.
Mann also foresees the merger of two mobile operators in a major European market by 2022, as regulators become more “compassionate”, and telcos sense an opportunity following this year’s annulment of the 2016 blocking of Three’s acquisition of O2.
Additionally, Collins said that in the next two years, some operators would begin to offer home routers “with enterprise security and monitoring features that separate personal and corporate use in a home working setting”.
The first day culminated in a pre-recorded interview with Verizon Consumer Group and former O2 CEO Ronan Dunne, in which he discussed the American operator’s ongoing 5G rollouts and consumer uptake of the service.
Dunne also gave his own prediction, anticipating that voice assistants would replace operating systems as the next key mobile industry battleground.
CCS Insight Predictions week runs until October 9, with morning sessions repeated in the evening for attendees in different time zones. Dunne will be participating in the live Q&A taking place this evening after the repeat of this morning’s keynote and interview.
Full coverage of CCS Predictions Week with a focus on mobile telecoms to follow in the November issue of Mobile News.