First of all the Smartphone has driven data demand. Before Steve Jobs held aloft that little plastic package called the iPhone in 2007, telcos were frankly struggling to sell mobile broadband. Mobile TV gadgets didn't even LOOK like a starter while first generation smartphones were button hell for most potential users. That all changed - now the smartphone and its voracious data demand is driving the business along.

The push to get LTE up and running is one symptom (see -The subscriber is the winner of Britain's "cheap" 4G bandwidth auction). Another symptom of data driving this along is the rise and rise of WiFi. It's been a big topic at the last few shows and last year there was much talk of Carrier WiFi. This year the hotspots were growing fast. (see - WiFi no longer the enemy)

After years with the home user in the smartphone spotlight, the enterprise is really beginning to stir. (see - Samsung & Genband: the office comms experience on a Galaxy far, far away)

Still on the enterprise front, companies are really beginning to get a handle on how you develop customer apps; how you get customers to download them and, most important, ensure you keep up the valuable conversation. (see -Building push messaging into the customer relationship).

And finally, my favourite. Being smart, smartphones can orchestrate their own testing (see -Remote testing smartphone apps) which means test devices they can be anywhere - as long as they stay in touch with the network.

VIDEO:The subscriber is the winner of Britain's "cheap" 4G bandwidth auctionMartyn Warwick talks with Ronan Dunne, the CEO of Telefonica O2, UK, about the 4G bandwidth auction and what his company will be doing with all the money that, in the end, it didn't have to spend on spectrum. He says the consumer will benefit as more and better apps and services come on line rather sooner than they would have if the mobile operators had again paid through the nose for bandwidth. It seems the lessons of the 3G feeding frenzy have been taken to heart.

VIDEO:WiFi no longer the enemyBjorn Thorngren, VP of Business Development for Wifi hotspot specialist, Boingo, talks to Ian Scales about carrier WiFi, the rapid development of the hotspot and the ever-upward trajectory of Wifi traffic statistics.VIDEO:Samsung & Genband: the office comms experience on a Galaxy far, far awayWith over 100 million Galaxy smartphones and tablets currently in the market, Samsung is in a good position to make a concerted push into the enterprise, says Samsung Mobile's Tim Wagner, VP and GM of Enterprise Sales, and Sam Waicberg, Chief Marketing Officer for Genband. They tell Abe Nejad how their alliance will meld Genband's core network intelligence capabilities with Samsung's smartphone/tablet smarts to create a seamless "office communications experience" both in the office itself and far, far beyond.VIDEO:Building push messaging into the customer relationshipIan Scales talks with Ivan Maksic, Regional Manager, UK & Ireland for Infobip, about APIs, push messaging and the increasingly pivotal position of the smartphone and the enterprise app in maintaining that critical conversation with the customer.VIDEO:Remote testing smartphone appsKeynote Systems does many things within it's overall mission to make the mobile space a better place for both developers and users in particular, but perhaps its most innovative 'thing' is remote app testing. CEO Umang Gupta shows Ian Scales how Keynote's remote testing facility works - dozens of smartphones wired up in one location to enable both corporate and individual app developers to remote test their apps on every (just about) smartphone model. And all without having to leave their screen to unbox yet another gizmo.