In an article published by Light Reading yesterday, European Editor Michelle Donegan discusses recent network investments made by Vodafone Group plc to combat the data deluge, based on an interview with Andy MacLeod, Vodafone's group network director. The article (full text below) focuses on the rapid growth and changing profile of data traffic across Vodafone Group’s European wireless networks and the technologies that Vodafone has selected as mission-critical to meet this challenge. 

“To address the mobile data volumes, traffic patterns, and user behavior, MacLeod highlighted some of the capabilities that Vodafone is working with, including traffic inspection, application optimization, content caching, and traffic offload (in the access network as well as in the transport network).

With these tools, there can be many "levels of personalized experience that users can get," he said. "And [Vodafone can] optimize what traffic we want when we want it."”

In an effort to improve customers’ user experience, increase network efficiency and address the impact of the data tsunami that’s hitting its network, the world’s largest tier-one wireless operators have turned to optimization and traffic management - validating the technology’s indispensable role in 3G/3.5G/4G and beyond. For more information.

For information on Bytemobile’s market-leading video and web optimization solutions, please visit http://www.bytemobile.com/products-applications/.

 
Vodafone Flexes Traffic Management Muscle
Light Reading
November 17, 2010

Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) is beefing up its traffic management capabilities in an effort to improve its customers' service experience, make its network more efficient, and stem the impact of the data deluge that's hitting its network.

Faced with mobile data traffic growth of 100 percent per year in Europe, it's no longer adequate for Vodafone to provide a best effort service, according to Andy MacLeod, Vodafone's group network director, who was speaking at the Broadband Traffic Management conference here in London. (See Data Surge Fuels Policy Control Boom.)

That's why Vodafone is creating what MacLeod calls a "smart network" across its European footprint.

"To provide customers with the best experience for them, we need to change how we manage the network… That's the aim of the smart network that we're building across our business," he said.

MacLeod gave a snapshot of the mobile data traffic patterns on Vodafone's European network to show what it has to deal with: Sixty-five percent of Vodafone's mobile data traffic is generated by 10 percent of users, and 30 percent of the traffic comes from just 1 percent of users. Also, 80 percent of the traffic comes from consumers, rather than business users, and 85 percent of the traffic is generated by PCs — that is, USB dongles or embedded 3G devices. Only a small minority of mobile data traffic today comes from smartphones or tablets, he said.

As for what that traffic comprises, MacLeod said 70 percent is Web browsing and video, which are about evenly split, and the remainder of the traffic is mostly peer-to-peer (P2P).

"A very small number of users generate most of the traffic," he said. "Mobile data isn't terribly mobile and the usage is mainly from home."

To address the mobile data volumes, traffic patterns, and user behavior, MacLeod highlighted some of the capabilities that Vodafone is working with, including traffic inspection, application optimization, content caching, and traffic offload (in the access network as well as in the transport network).

With these tools, there can be many "levels of personalized experience that users can get," he said. "And [Vodafone can] optimize what traffic we want when we want it."

MacLeod explained that the personalization that traffic management enables is what improves the customer experience and can lift customer satisfaction. (See Policy Control Key to Personalized Services and Policy Matters to Mobile Broadband Operators.)

For Vodafone, the goal of this kind of policy management is to resolve how best to provide an adequate level of service quality, which will keep customers happy, while at the same time generating an acceptable return or profit from the services, which will keep shareholders happy.

"The biggest upside [of traffic management] is having the ability to help us personalize the experience for customers and optimize yield and profitability," said MacLeod.

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile

-Stacey Infantino

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Hank Kafka, AT&T senior vice president of Architecture and Planning, delivered the opening keynote presentation on Day 1 of the LTE North America 2010 conference in Dallas, Texas. Kafka opened the session with the following statement:

If there is one thing you should take away from this conference, it’s that consumers and businesses have an insatiable demand for data.

The AT&T executive’s presentation focused on the fact that one of the biggest challenges facing wireless network operators today is that the majority of consumers don’t understand capacity problems.

AT&T, which spends billions annually to improve its network infrastructure and address the capacity challenge, believes that increasing network speed is only part of the solution.

The company has seen a 5,000% increase in mobile data consumption over the past three years. Kafka attributed this to two key drivers: social networks and video.

With regard to social media, Kafka stated that the average mobile Facebook user spends seven hours a month on the site and that social networks are second only to email in terms of consumer usage.

In discussing mobile video, Kafka cited statistics from Bytemobile’s 3Q 2010 Mobile Minute Metrics report, highlighting the following point:

‘The most prevalent type of video on wireless networks worldwide continues to be user-generated content available on YouTube and Google Videos. On average, this accounts for 48% of the total network video traffic.’

Kafka closed the session by setting the stage for the future state of mobile data demand – “It’s only going to accelerate.”

-Stacey Infantino

Image courtesy of Rene Reile via the Creative Commons attribution license.

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On September 28, Mobile Minute and Informa Telecoms & Media collaborated with Vodafone D2 in Germany to present “The Impact of Video Traffic Growth on Mobile Networks”. The webinar attracted a mix of network operators, analysts and media, with over 400 registrants from around the world. To access a full replay, please visit us at Mobile Minute.

Contributors to the webinar included Dr. Volker Sebastian, head of Multimedia Application Engineering at Vodafone D2; Mike Hibberd, editorial director of Telecoms.com; and Jeff Sanderson, head of Pre-Sales for EMEA and Latin America at Bytemobile.

Mike Hibberd began the discussion by summarizing the key growth trends driving the wireless market today. Most strikingly, he noted a projected 76% CAGR in global mobile data traffic from 2008 to 2013. This is due to a combination of factors, including flat-rate tariffs used by operators to stimulate adoption, improvements in network infrastructure, and the spread of high-end, data-hungry devices.

Volker Sebastian expanded on the challenge created by these growth trends, noting the role that various technological solutions will play in helping operators manage traffic. Vodafone D2, like many carriers in developed markets, is looking for ways to meet consumer demand within its capital budget constraints – specifically, demand for data that is skewed by the enormous popularity of streaming video content. With optimization techniques implemented by Bytemobile, Vodafone D2 has been able to realize a total data savings of approximately 25% of HTTP traffic (85% of its video traffic is streamed via HTTP).

Jeff Sanderson rounded out the session with an overview of the various media optimization and policy enforcement solutions that Bytemobile offers operators to realign revenue generation with bandwidth consumption. Through optimization techniques such as Just in Time video downloading, Quality-Aware Transcoding, Dynamic Bandwidth Shaping, and Media Caching, operators are able to enhance the efficiency of their networks and increase their ROI in network infrastructure. Most importantly, consumers enjoy an improved user experience, which supports retention and growth of the operator’s subscriber base.

Additional Mobile Minute events are planned for the coming months. We will cover these events on our website and blog as part of our ongoing efforts to provide thought leadership and consultative education to the rapidly evolving mobile internet space.

- Peter Turner

Image courtesy of Hector Milla via the Creative Commons attribution license.

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The accelerated growth of multimedia usage on mobile devices is changing the traffic profile of wireless networks. Traditional traffic management technologies have been ineffective in handling mobile video. Network operators require new strategies and tools to maintain high quality of service and manage traffic growth within their capital budgets.

Please join senior executives from Vodafone D2, Informa Telecoms & Media, and Bytemobile at 4:00 p.m. UK GMT on Tuesday, September 28, as they tackle the challenges and opportunities of mobile multimedia.

The September 28 webinar – “The Impact of Video Traffic Growth on Mobile Networks,” as advertised on Informa’s telecoms.com – will feature panelists Dr. Volker Sebastian, head of Multimedia Engineering, TMH, at Vodafone D2 (Germany); Mike Hibberd, editorial director of Telecoms.com; and Jeff Sanderson, head of Pre-Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America at Bytemobile.

Please register for the webinar here. The webinar is free and will be accessible on demand for interested participants across the globe.

-Tod Bottari  
 

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