Wearable devices, ranging from smartwatches and fitness trackers to smart glasses to hearables, can help mobile operators pocket more than $12 billion in annual service revenue by the end of 2021, according to a report by SNS Telecom & IT.
While wearable technology has been used in vertical sectors such as the military and healthcare industries for many years, ongoing advances have triggered a resurgence of the concept, particularly among the consumer community, according to SNS. Key enabling technologies including low cost sensors, wireless connectivity, active materials and energy have converged to make wearable technology mainstream.
Driven by the ability to interconnect with key modern trends of healthcare, fitness, messaging and socialization, the wearable technology ecosystem is attracting significant levels of interest. Companies as varied as smartphone OEMs, mobile operators, health insurers and retailers are circling the ecosystem alongside tiny startups, all vying for a stake, the report said.
SNS Telecom & IT stated in its report that in the coming months and years, wearables are expected to play a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of new wireless connectivity technologies including cellular IoT standards – NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) and eMTC (Enhanced Machine-Type Communication). They’re also forecast to play a role in the use of 5G NR (New Radio) air interface – predicted for bandwidth intensive and latency-sensitive use cases such as AR (Augmented Reality) applications running over smart glasses.
May 17, 2018
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