VIDEO INTERVIEW: Peggy Johnson, president of global market development at Qualcomm Technologies, told Mobile World Live that mobile has a growing role to play in a range of industry sectors, including broadcasting, education, health and public safety.

Heading up new business areas for Qualcomm, Johnson looks at how the firm’s chipset expertise can be applied beyond the traditional mobile sector and what the business models might be.

One area she is enthusiastic about is LTE Broadcast, recently launched in South Korea.

“The time is right for LTE Broadcast,” said Johnson. “Current networks are becoming constrained by data, much of which is video.”

She added that about half of all data on mobile networks is currently video, rising to 70 per cent in a few years. “If we can offload content that is shared by many – whether that’s breaking news or sports – [LTE Broadcast] is one avenue we can start to utilise.”

In the education space, Johnson is exploring a ‘dual persona’ device for students. “One of the things we have talked about in the past is how do you have one device that the child can use both at school and during their personal time,” she said.

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm showcased a device – virtually split in two, separating personal interests and schoolwork – that could support different billing options. “In the school zone,” said Johnson, “airtime might be paid for by the school or local authorities. Outside the zone, [students] could pay for the airtime.”

Johnson further believes that Qualcomm Technologies’ LTE Direct – a “device-based system of discovery” – also holds out promise for a “whole slew of industries, not least public safety”.

In the event of a natural disaster, Johnson said phones could talk directly to each other and so make it easier to find people, say, after a hurricane or earthquake. Deutsche Telekom is currently trialling LTE Direct.

“Game-changing” advances, said Johnson, have also been made at Qualcomm’s 2net platform – a ‘gateway’ designed to take information gleaned from wearable technology back to medical databases in a secure and safe manner.

“At MWC we announced 2net will be including Bluetooth low-energy, which is a big step as many devices built for the body are built using that technology,” she said.

Watch the full interview here.