TELCO STRATEGY
The line separating telecommunications and media has all but vanished. Today, content creation, distribution and consumption are inseparable from the power and sophistication of global networks. At the heart of the convergence stands the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, a collaborative hub designed to fast-track solutions to some of the industry’ s most complex challenges.
For telecommunications leaders, the programme provides more than experiments in innovation: it offers a roadmap for the future of connectivity.
The programme’ s founder, Mark Smith, Chair of the IBC Council, brings decades of mobile industry experience to the table.
“ I was with the GSMA right at the beginning of its formation of the GSM standard and of worldwide growth and rollout of 2G networks right the way through the development of 3G, 4G and up to 5G,” he explains. His role in establishing Mobile World Congress as a global powerhouse gave him a unique vantage point on the transformative power of collaboration.
“ I recognised opportunities in media and telecoms, along with their convergence with mobile, as early as the mid-2000s,” he recalls.“ That’ s when I launched the Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, to establish a framework for collaboration, drawing on telecoms models where companies work together to develop solutions they wouldn’ t ordinarily achieve alone.”
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