The unicorn, a mythological creature first depicted in the Bronze Age, has taken many forms in many cultures over many centuries. One of the earliest descriptions of the majestic, single-horned beast came in 400 BC by the Greek historian Ctesias. He described the animal as having a white head, purple body, blue eyes, and a cubit-long colored horn.
Evolutions in telecom are like clockwork: once a decade something extremely important happens. In the 1980s, the first nationwide mobile network operators (MNOs) appeared (think AT&T and the predecessors to Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile). In the 1990s, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) rolled out as a standard that became like the Bible for the industry. At the turn of the century, 3G was the new rage and, about ten years after that, 4G/LTE opened the floodgates for transmitting large quantities of data.
Back in early September, we ran a fascinating interview with Rick Davidson, former CEO and President of Century 21. In the exchange, Rick hinted at the beginnings of a real estate slowdown in the US, anticipating coastal markets would see the tide shifting first, before a more broad-based tightening took hold. Since then, ominous headlines have made waves in national publications, echoing and expanding on this outlook (you can find a particularly popular one in The Wall Street Journal).
For many, the holiday season is a special time to pause and reflect on things that are important. It is a time to celebrate, show gratitude, and practice generosity with family, friends, and co-workers. While joyful in most cases, it can also be a very busy time of year, as people travel, attend holiday parties and buy gifts online.
One of the reasons for the proliferation of technological innovation within the United States over the last several decades is due to its “lighter touch” on regulation when compared to global counterparts. Even when comparing the tech industry to other industries within the United States, the technology sector is the least regulated industry with just 27,000 federal laws verses 128,000 for the financial sector and 215,000 for manufacturing.
