As a special guest speaker at Ericsson in Stockholm, Waverman recently gave an outside view that confirms Ericsson's vision of enabling an all-communicating world. He said work to bring telecommunications and connectivity to people around the world has had positive effects on the social and economic standings of nations.

"Most people don't get to work for a leader in an industry that's changing the world. To be part of that, to me, is just sensational," Waverman told Ericsson employees.

Waverman's research, and that conducted by other academics, has defined the relationship between telecoms and economics: when mobile penetration increases by 10 percent in a country, economic growth rates also grow by 0.6 percent. And Waverman's study finds that the effect of mobile communications is twice as large in emerging markets as in mature markets.

"Those are numbers every telecoms CEO can say in their sleep," he said. Waverman also shared insights into ways that Ericsson, as an industry leader, should continue to drive business all over the world - not just in emerging markets.

"It's not about charity. Aid is important, but in terms of telecoms, it's about bringing business to these places. The mobile phone is an identity, because the SIM card is unique - it's a personality. So what the mobile phone has done is bring to the developing world what we forget, which is how crucial communications is."

It's not just voice services. Waverman says data use is gaining in importance as well, especially when it comes to banking solutions. It all started in Bangladesh with GrameenPhone, which is now an example of the reversed flow of ideas.

"Who would have imagined there would be 70 million Americans without bank accounts," Waverman said. "GrameenPhone has now opened in New York City, so we have an invention coming our way from poverty-stricken Bangladesh."

Innovation, he continued, is coming from the developing world where the shift is not merely in adding mobility onto existing services, but creating services around a full communications tool - the mobile phone. Waverman encouraged Ericsson to think in terms of services and applications to continue leading the industry in the future.