The communications services provider industry, though mature, is acting less like an adult and more like a budding teenager with some serious attention deficit disorder. Each day brings a new distraction and new next Big Thing about which to get excited. These new video games/girls/sports go by more common names like: streaming video, beefed-up carrier grade WiFi connectivity or improvements in the connected home and connected car applications.

The CTO has to be the adult in the room, helping the new product teams remain focused on prioritized strategy, not just technology and toys. CTOs have to effectively guide market entry strategies, no matter whether the IT services are developed internally, obtained through company acquisitions, partnerships or contracted as Software as a Service (SaaS).

This year, hot button telecom strategic issues, in my view, seem to fall into three categories and all appeal to the teenager that lives in each of us: WiFi, IoT and Gigabit speeds.

WiFi

Broadband providers like Comcast realize they can reduce cord cutting among their residential customers by improving the WiFi experience in the home. Why? More and more in-home devices are or will depend on robust home networks in order to operate.

Even if an incumbent provider can make its service marginally better than a competitor, the investment can result in great dividends in terms of customer retention and increased sales. There is a big “but,” however.

There are so many variables that impact WiFi operation in the home that it may be nearly impossible to account for all of them in order to deliver an identical quality of service across the customer base. Here is a sample of the things that can impact WiFi in the home:

• Type of dwelling (e.g., single family, MDU), age and type of construction

• Location of dwelling (e.g., urban, suburban) and density or proximity to similar dwellings

• The total number of WiFi devices in the dwelling

• Distance from the end user devices to the WiFi router, and if there is clear line of site vs. any obstructions in the way

• Whether the router selects a clear channel upon boot up

• Whether the router supports beamforming (aka MIMO) to focus the signal strength to the location where the end device is located

• Processor speed and more RAM of the router

There also is growth potential in WiFi delivery beyond the home. Broadband providers such as Cablevision in metro New York have launched a WiFi-only video, voice and data service and others are investing in technology to use both cellular and hardwired broadband network to carry video, data and telephony services. Google also is investing in this space, having just announced it will launch Project Fi, delivering video, voice and data using WiFi first, then cellular networks second.

CTOs have a great challenge ensuring WiFi first services operate with smooth handoffs between hot spots and cellular networks, creating a true carrier grade experience. The WiFi Alliance has initiated the Hot Spot 2.0 (HS 2.0), often referred to as WiFi Certified Passpoint, as the new standard for WiFi public access that automates and secures the connection.

The initial release of HS 2.0 was based on the IEEE 802.11u standard and introduced new capabilities for automatic WiFi network discovery, selection and 802.1X authentication based on the Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP). The WiFi Alliance has already come out with its second release of HS 2.0 and continues to work to improve the user experience enabling smoother connections and handoffs.

Internet of Things

Industry analysts agree: virtually every domicile will have connected devices by 2020. So in the next half decade, telecommunications executives will need to decide what products consumers will adopt first.

Several providers, including AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and others are utilizing their current networks to deliver home security and home automation services.

But the potential is so much greater than an alarm on a window. We have the capability to place a sensor in a car that, when in range of a home, will tell the thermostat to adjust temperature a few degrees at a time, efficiently warming or cooling the house for the occupants’ arrival. Other “welcome home” features can be triggered.

All CTOs and product teams have to do is figure out how all those signals will be delivered, over what networks and at what time. Millions of machine-to-machine communications and application calculations: no problem!?

Gigabit Speed Services Over Current Networks

As consumers utilize more streaming services and Internet cloud applications, they expect flawless delivery. No one will accept that annoying “buffering” wheel of doom, whether it appears during video downloads or retrieval of a large file from the cloud.

Additionally, the FCC is pressing providers to offer at least 100 Mbps speed to 100 million communities by 2020. This move to the fast lane is the goal for providers of all sizes, especially as they accelerate the delivery of business services.

DOCSIS 3.1 will enable adopters to deliver 1 Gigabit broadband speeds, with superlative quality of experience, and a 50 percent increase in traffic on the same spectrum over existing HFC networks. Alternatively, fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) offers even greater speeds and service opportunities but at a greater cost of deployment.

Communications services providers are figuring out what is the best solution or group of solutions to deliver the Gigabit speeds that are envisioned as necessary for the future spurred by the disruption being caused by Google Fiber. For the most part, cable and phone companies are moving toward a fiber-to-the-home solution for all new greenfield sub-development construction as the cost of the fiber equipment has become significantly more affordable. For the areas already built and serviced, both DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 offer solutions for the cable providers to achieve Gigabit speeds over their existing HFC facilities without too much cost and disruption. Providers are figuring out what architectures (HFC, RFoG, FTTH, PON) and transport technologies (DOCSIS, EPON, GPON) to use when and where.

The decision process is certainly not easy, but cable operators have a choice of tools at their disposal. DOCSIS 3.1 enables state-of-the-art speeds to be delivered over HFC networks. DOCSIS provisioning of EPON (DPoE) allows EPON to be operated with the same back-office as a DOCSIS network. RFoG enables FTTH with HFC back office and HFC consumer premises equipment. The challenge is to figure out which is the most cost-effective now and for the foreseeable future.

These three areas will remain significant challenges in terms of planning and expenditures before they deliver a significant revenue stream in return. And no one decision appears to be a slam dunk to ensure success. CTOs should prepare to embrace the enablement of choice by their business units, whether the network and IT solutions reside in house or is provided on a SaaS basis.

John Flanagan is senior vice president at Hitachi Consulting.