Dixon, a self-described futurist and the founder of U.K. consulting company Global Change Ltd., addressed the final day of the Carrier World Congress at the Barcelona Conference Center. It's clear that this is where future growth lies for carriers, Dixon said. But that standard is at least 30 years old. Those stupid little glass boxes, with cathode-ray tubes. Once the technology for higher quality video is perfected, even more bandwidth will be needed, he said.
Telecom carriers face another big challenge from the coming explosion in wireless technology.
Carriers will have to find ways to convince people to use that much bandwidth - educating them about how to conduct effective video conferences, for example, a technique which most users still shy away from, Dixon said. The key to marketing new technologies lies in understanding them within the context of human lives and deep human needs. People are becoming increasingly spiritual as a reaction to the rapid speed of change. The successful companies of the future will be those that offer people ways to use technology to improve their lives, to reduce the amount of work-related travel or time at the office, for example. The Carrier World Congress concluded in Barcelona on Wednesday.