With iPhones already earning the reputation as ‘bandwidth hogs’, and networks with heavy smartphone use already under intense pressure, devices like netbooks and USB dongles are adding even more stress to carriers’ infrastructure.

With today’s introduction of the Apple iPad - a device for which users’ quality-of-service expectations are extremely high – operators’ capacity challenges are mounting and may push their networks over the edge.

What we know about the Apple iPad:

Every iPad has Wi-Fi, but Apple also has models with 3G.

There are two wireless data plans. The first provides up to 250 MB per month for $14.99. The second provides unlimited data for $29.99. AT&T is the exclusive service provider and includes free use of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots. In the U.S., wireless operators typically charge about $60 a month for a laptop data plan.

There is no contract — service is prepaid, so consumers can cancel any time. That’s a big change from the iPhone. All iPad 3G models are unlocked, so consumers can use them with any carrier that supports micro-SIM technology.

The question is: are carriers’ networks equipped to handle another, even more massive, explosion of mobile data consumption?

If Apple’s new iPad lives up to the usage patterns – and more importantly – the bandwidth problems of the iPhone, then the answer is: probably not.

In a recent Wall Street Journal blog post, Niraj Sheth wrote:

…the iPhone is hardly the kind of data guzzler the tablet is widely expected to be. After all, it’s one thing to squint at movies on a 3.5-inch screen and quite another to watch them in a relatively cinematic 10 inches.

With this in mind, carriers can surely expect a ‘secondary’ explosion in video and other multimedia traffic. They need to prepare their networks now in order to avoid consumer backlash. Another quantum leap in data traffic will not only strain the network - and thus the user experience - but will also strain profit margins due to out-of-control infrastructure costs.

We should expect to see the wireless industry put a priority on intelligently managing network traffic and experimenting with new ways to curtail the margin squeeze - whether through tiered pricing plans, stricter enforcement of fair use policies or new value-added services.

-Stacey Infantino

Bookmark to:

AT&T’s making MMS available on the iPhone is big news – something for which its users have clamored. Of course, AT&T isn’t the only carrier that is concerned about how to make sure its network is prepared for an increase in multimedia traffic. To better understand why carriers are justifiably nervous, let’s take a look at the following data which represents traffic over a 24-hour period in a cross-section of some of our larger customers’ 3G networks.

Note that 90% of the users are browsing the web, which accounts for 40-50% of the total traffic.

Streaming video accounts for 30-40%, but that is generated by less than 1% of the users. It’s not difficult to do the math and envision the magnitude of the impact as more users consume video and other multimedia applications.

P2P file sharing is also a bandwidth hog, with less than 1/10 of 1% of users accounting for 5-10% of the total traffic.

It is clear that intelligent traffic control is necessary, enabling carriers to enforce fair use policies adaptively without damaging customer relationships. By increasing network efficiency and capacity, operators can manage the effects of continued traffic growth within the footprint of their existing installation and scale their networks ahead of rising data usage trends. This will also help to ensure a compelling user experience.

-Stacey Infantino

Bookmark to:

Bytemobile Chief Marketing Officer Adrian Hall delivered a presentation on “Intelligent Traffic Management in the 4G Environment” today at the LTE Focus conference. In the session, Hall discussed Bytemobile’s first-hand experience in helping network operators successfully migrate from 2G to 2.5G to 3G and demonstrated how experience has shown that intelligent traffic management will be more critical in the 4G environment than ever before.

Highlights from Hall’s presentation included:
Over the next five years, the majority of users will be on the highest-speed networks – which will effectively reduce or minimize the impact of user-experience issues on data consumption and therefore generate more and more traffic.

Moore’s Law is every bit as applicable to wireless network traffic as it is to semiconductor processing power – and data usage will inevitably rise to fill the bandwidth available for it. This has happened in every phase of the evolution of network technology – from 2G to 2.5G to 3G – and it will happen from 3G to 4G as well.

Solutions for Operators:
They can apply different strategies for intelligent traffic management – such as imposing data caps on service plans, enforcing fair-use policies to limit the impact of excessive usage by a few rogue subscribers, and differentiate quality of service based on premium pricing.

They can implement web optimization technology to reduce data volume and media optimization technology to manage bandwidth utilization for streaming video.

They can also deploy new value-added data services to build new business models and generate new revenue streams to offset the impact of margin pressure with increased revenue.

Interested in hearing more? Send an email to sinfantino@bytemobile.com.

-Stacey Infantino

Bookmark to:

The recent edition of our quarterly newsletter was released this week and focuses on network evolution and the ensuing data crunch, with traffic expecting to double in volume every year through 2013. In addition to this headline topic, there’s coverage on the Widget Bar and the new widget applications it includes, how we’ve partnered with operators such as Sprint to help drive their success in the marketplace, and our continued Mobile Minute webinar series with its relevant discussion of the mobile internet ecosystem.

Read the newsletter in detail here or contact us at feedback@bytemobile.com to subscribe.

- Dan Fisher

Bookmark to: