NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, ITTA – the Voice of Mid-Size Carriers, and Telecompetitor released a compilation of the top three broadband trends from BroadbandVision participants that can be expected to dominate the market within the next 12 months. BroadbandVision will be held October 1-3, 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada and will provide a deeper look into what industry executives see as the key issues driving the broadband industry.

Trend #1: Investment for fiber deployment and gigabit services for communities will continue to grow to meet the insatiable demand for broadband.

• “The next twelve months will see significant investment in gigabit services for communities across North America. Gigabit deployments are now being recognized for enabling communities to attract new industry, improve quality of life for their citizens and promote innovation that makes a difference.”
  - Kevin Morgan, Vice-Chair of the Board, FTTH Council America

• “Providers of broadband services, specifically telcos, will continue with heavy investments in infrastructure and fiber deployment to strengthen their position as the premier broadband service provider for their serving area. Smart Home and Smart Office will be the “buzz phrases” for 2015 and the “Triple Play” competition between telcos and cable companies will become a thing of the past and evolve into a race to own the Smart Home and Office.”
  - Merry Shepard, Product & Marketing Manager, Canby Telecom

• “There will be more and more fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-curb using PON solution. There will also be more 1 Gig service to residential subscribers.”
  - Xinyu Zhang, Director of Marketing, Fixed Broadband Product, ZTE USA

• “Fiber, Fiber, Fiber. Continued network investment will dominate the next 12 months to meet the ever increasing demand for broadband.”
  - Larry D. Thompson, PE, CEO, Vantage Point Solutions

• “Broadband connectivity is an essential part of our lives and livelihood. The trend is to be always online, so demand will only increase for higher and faster connections to support data, mobile devices and IoT devices to communicate anytime, anywhere with anything.”
  - Maggie Quinn, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development, Frontier Secure

Trend #2: An increase in streaming video consumption and improvements in broadband streaming will enable residents in rural areas to have better video experiences.

• “Streaming over managed broadband networks will proliferate and wireless video technology improvements will enable wide-scale adoption in rural markets.”
  - John Childs, National Sales Director, Dascom

• “There will be enormous growth in mobile video consumption as a prime driver in consumer consumption. Currently, only approximately 25% of online video consumption is on mobile devices. There will be compounding growth in the next 12 months.”
  - Michael Bishara, SVP Product and GM TV Everywhere, Synacor

Trend #3: Continued advancements in broadband technologies will be required to meet the increased need for cloud-based services.

• “Over-The-Top videos and cloud-based services will be flourishing everywhere thanks to advancements in broadband technologies.”
  - Weijun Lee, Strategic Technology Officer of Cloud Computing and IT Solution, ZTE USA

• “Voice networks will be cloud sourced in order to reduce TCO, increase service agility and de-risk the delivery of VoIP and UC services. The cloud is the only approach that offers the latest and greatest virtualization technology and cool UC features along with business model transformation with a 100% SaaS and success-based financial model.”
  - Kevin Mitchell, Vice President of Marketing and Product, Alianza

Finally, while each of these trends is of individual importance to the continued growth of broadband technology, Kevin Kutcher, vice president of marketing at CHR Solutions, believes that when these elements come together, they create a common demand for an unparalleled customer experience. Kevin states, “While broadband speed and performance absolutely matter, the customer experience will continue to evolve as a primary differentiator among companies. The competitive landscape has never been more intense and to meet these competitive realities broadband carriers will need to focus on creating a meaningful and engaging customer experience. Implementation of the right tools and technology, and knowing how to leverage data, will be the game changer for companies looking to drive an exceptional customer experience and increased corporate value.”

“Broadband-enabled technologies are the future of the telecom industry. It’s great to hear from our speakers, exhibitors and sponsors about where they think broadband is headed knowing they bring a diverse set of experiences and knowledge to the conversation,” said Shirley Bloomfield, NTCA chief executive officer. “I look forward to continuing this dialog during BroadbandVision next week, where these industry-leading solution providers will expand upon these predictions and share their unique broadband insights with attendees.”

Registration for BroadbandVision Show is now open. Contact Tocia Johnson at 240-482-8130 for more information. Companies interested in exhibiting or sponsorship packages for BroadbandVision should contact Paul McPherson at 240-463-1700.

For the latest BroadbandVision Show news, updates and more information, follow us on Twitter at @BBVisionShow and LinkedIn at BroadbandVision Show.

About BroadbandVision:

BroadbandVision is North America’s leading Fall tradeshow focused on building mindshare, introducing new ideas, and facilitating business relationships across the entire broadband ecosystem. Produced by NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, ITTA and Telecompetitor, BroadbandVision is assembling a broad cross-section of telco, cable, utility/municipal, and wireless Internet service providers to introduce, discuss, and demonstrate best practices for broadband network monetization success.