The U.S. wireless landscape is beginning to undergo a transformation. Rising competition has given birth to unlimited data plans from all four major carriers over the last year, and the resulting ramp-up in data consumption has only increased the importance of network capacity. The IoT is quickly becoming a mass market as companies look to provide connectivity to a vast range of devices, from water tanks and agricultural sensors to cars and street lights. And as operators are working to meet those needs they’re also moving aggressively to prepare for 5G deployments over the next few years.
Predictably, startups are playing a major role as the industry looks beyond traditional technologies, services and business models to a world of ubiquitous connectivity. FierceWireless once again recognizes some of the most noteworthy of these startups in our 2017 Fierce 15 list. Our list includes startups from across various segments of a very broad wireless market, from software developers to infrastructure vendors to hardware manufacturers.
The Fierce editing team is constantly on the lookout for interesting startups and emerging companies in wireless. We’ve tracked a long list of potential candidates over the last year and whittled candidates down to 15 selections.
All of these startups are engaged in pursuits that have the potential to have a significant impact as the wireless industry begins to enter the 5G era.
To qualify, a company must be privately held, well-funded, emerging, and have the potential to be a major player in the industry. Candidates are either based in the U.S. or conduct a significant amount of business here, because that’s where the majority of our readers are.
These are some of the startups we believe are particularly well positioned to help reshape wireless in the years to come. Click on the links below to read more about them, and please let us know which one of them you believe is likely to have the biggest impact. – Colin | @colin_gibbs