Investing in innovation is not just about developing technology or partnering with other technology companies. It’s also about commercializing new products and services in a way that customers can grasp, making them willing to pay a premium. This is really where the wheel hits the road for operators. Lots of new technologies look really neat but sometimes looks don’t create revenue and profit. There is some real market value to a temporary wow factor, but that can’t be the only recipe in the innovation cookbook. Innovation needs to bring long-term change to people’s lives.


How will this innovation affect people’s everyday lives, and what does that mean for the operator?


There are two types of innovations: ones that make us more efficient, and ones that entertain us. Both are good. Both drive revenue and hopefully profits and long term success.


Since communications is an enabler for virtually every sector in our economy, more efficient communications means social and commercial progress like we’ve never imagined! Every existing process in our business and personal lives will soon become easier, cheaper, faster – from inputting a sales order to making an appointment for an oil change.
But improving an existing process is only half the equation. Innovation will make entirely new things possible, things we’ve never done before. Just as it was once impossible to hear the voice of a distant loved one, or see images of far off places, Innovation will open up new and exciting possibilities that will change our lives forever. That’s the magic that our industry brings to the world!


Without innovation, we essentially become irrelevant since life moves on without us.
Published in DMR Special 2006