The world of mobile connec­tivity is not just evolving, it’s promising a future that ensures the industry will not stagnate but continue to drive enhanced experiences.

From the first SMS in the early 1990s to the addition of multimedia messaging services in 2002, the ad­vent of 4G in 2010, and the current era of 5G, the mobile internet has become faster and more accessible than ever.

The future holds even more promise with the potential of 5.5G, 6G, satellite tech, IoT, AI, nanotech, and smart device add-ons like ho­lographic displays that will enable users to interact with 3D images without glasses. These advance­ments are not just about increased bandwidth and reduced latency; they are about enhancing the quali­ty of experiences we can deliver and enabling a magnitude of use cases that were once purely imaginative.

According to the London Eco­nomic, artificial intelligence (AI) is and will continue to be a major driving force in the enhancement of mobile technology.

By 2025, AI is expected to be even more deeply integrated into smart­phones, making them smarter and more intuitive. AI will elevate mobile use across various aspects, including personalised user experi­ences, predictive features, advanced camera and image functionalities, and real-time language translation.

Augmented reality (AR) and vir­tual reality (VR) technologies are also poised to become mainstream from 2025 onwards, marking a sig­nificant shift in how we interact with the world through our mobile devices.

AR will enhance navigation systems, gaming experiences, and shopping by overlaying digital in­formation onto the real world.

It will provide immersive experi­ences for entertainment, education, and professional training. Thanks to advancements in hardware and software, mobile devices will be­come the primary platform for AR and VR experiences, opening up a new world of possibilities for mo­bile device interactions.

Significant advancements in mo­bile security are expected by 2025. Biometric authentication meth­ods, such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, will become more sophisticated and widespread.

Furthermore, mobile devices will incorporate advanced encryp­tion technologies and AI-driven se­curity measures to protect against emerging threats.

Privacy features will be further enhanced, empowering users with greater control over their data as regulations continue to evolve in this area.

These innovations will ensure that mobile devices continue to be secure and trustworthy, even as they manage increasingly sensitive information.

The rapid changes in the tele­communications industry are compelling traditional telcos to shift their focus towards becoming digitally savvy ‘techcos’.

The era of focusing on fixed in­frastructure, selling commoditised minutes and megabytes, and man­aging subscriptions is transitioning to a new age of technological adap­tation, where it will be essential to harness the best of both worlds: the mobile network and infrastructure, with digital solutions and innova­tion. Connectivity, of course, re­mains at the heart of the solutions.

According to Forbes, telecom­munication companies are being turned into technology companies from “the inside out”, with a new “multidimensional paradigm of connectivity”, cloud-based solu­tions and system integration and hosting services is absorbing the traditional model of selling minutes and managing subscriptions.

Succeeding in this new land­scape and ensuring the transition happens quickly means companies will need to harness cloud technol­ogy and AI and drive partnerships.

Agility and scalability will be crucial, with McKinsey noting that telcos can unlock significant value by becoming truly customer-centric enterprises. However, this will take a new operating model enabled by a mindset shift and expanded capa­bilities. Companies will also need to become platform-oriented inno­vators.

What is often forgotten in the telcos’ scramble to transform is the power of the network and the ability of techcos to harness strong, established businesses as they tran­sition into a domain requiring capi­tal-intensive growth.

A big advantage established play­ers have is that connectivity will al­ways be the ticket to the game. Even if someone else enables the plat­form, connectivity will ultimately be core to the solution.

In Nigeria for instance, MTN has started to adopt a solution-led approach, leveraging its own telco assets, such as 5G, alongside its part­ner ecosystem to address real-world challenges faced by both consumers and businesses.

https://independent.ng/how-digital-economy-can-enhanceeconomic-growth-in-2025/