As the creation of 360 video and virtual reality experiences remain an industry hot topic, the issue of distribution is increasingly being discussed by a host of companies, including telecom carriers. This week, Greenlight Insight CEO Clifton Dawson is attending the Ultra-Broadband Forum 2016 in Frankfurt, Germany to present a model for how carriers can evaluate and execute a near term strategy to grow the virtual reality ecosystem. Excerpts from his talk are below.

As demand for all types of virtual reality hardware, content and services grows, there are opportunities for all segments of the value chain, including carriers and network operators. Looking ahead to the next half-decade, the VR/AR industry will enter an important new stage regarding the technology and infrastructure needed to support the proliferation and sustained use of virtual reality headsets. Carriers, content providers, consumer electronics vendors, Internet service providers, and regulatory agencies must begin the transformation of telecom networks as conduits for data and move toward experience-centric networks.

• More telcos must explore new means of deploying a wider range of virtual reality services, including producing original IP
• Operators should leverage their unique position as network owners and internet service providers to educate consumers about new technology, such as virtual reality headsets and VR cameras. Specifically, telcos have a significant opportunity to leverage extensive offline marketing channels to education and promote virtual reality.
• As controllers of the network infrastructure underlying VR delivery, operators have an important role in driving the growth of the entire VR ecosystem by optimizing the end-to-end user experience by integrating diverse technology assets (including cloud, CDN, big data, etc.) into a unified platform.

Given these opportunities, it is encouraging to already see some operators take a leading role in driving the growth of virtual reality. Looking ahead to the upcoming Virtual Reality Strategy Conference, presenting sponsor Deutsche Telekom will illustrate how carriers can transform their networks into experience-centric networks. We believe that all companies who wish to build sustainable VR businesses - not just for the next five years, but for the next fifty - must aggressively scope out and invest in their role within the virtual reality ecosystem.

Email hello@greenlightinsights.com to receive a presentation for Clifton’s talk or register for the upcoming conference.