Ooredoo announced the expansion of its Managed Connectivity Platform to Qatar, taking the number of countries covered by the service to four, alongside Indonesia, Tunisia and Kuwait. In expanding the service to major markets, Ooredoo is positioning itself as a leading regional IoT player, and the company is in discussion with a number of global leaders looking to use its network during this week’s Mobile World Congress.
Connected devices are already counted in the billions, and analysts predict these numbers will hit 6.4 billion worldwide by the end of the year. While there's plenty of business potential in these expanding connections, there's a big downside however - with security vulnerabilities growing exponentially. Moath Ismail, Telecommunication Solutions & Services Director for Middle East at Gemalto, explains that because the Internet of Things (IoT) makes virtually every aspect of information governance more complicated, providing hacker-tight security has become more complicated too. With more devices and more information comes more vulnerability.
Recent preliminary results from Gartner, Inc. shows that worldwide PC (personal computer) shipments totaled 72.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 3.7 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2015. In total, for the year 2016, PC shipments totaled 269.7 million units, a 6.2 percent decline from 2015. The significance of PCs is diminishing as the smartphone trend and popularity of connected devices takes center stage. PC shipments have declined annually since 2012, while mobile broadband subscriptions have been growing by around 25 percent annually, increasing by approximately 190 million in Q3 2016 alone, Ericsson reports.
As the world now prepares for next-generation 5G networks knowing that rollouts are still three to five years away, companies like Apple, Samsung and Intel are working hard to ensure they stay ahead of the curve on 5G research and development. Chip giant Qualcomm believes there are incredibly complex challenges facing the industry as it attempts to bring 5G technology to commercial reality.
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