Heard on the Street
Industry experts hail the challenges and opportunities of the mobile Internet.
According to ONS figures, 31% of internet users connected to the web via a mobile phone in 2010. The popularity of iPhones and their equivalents mean that the networks have struggled to cope with a 20-fold increase in data demand in the last year alone. Gavin Sheldon, head of networks at 02, explained the impact of the new generation of smartphones. "Watching one YouTube video on an iPhone can be the network equivalent of sending 500,000 text messages," he said. Some predict that, as demands grow, the mobile networks will fail to cope.
BBC News
October 22, 2010
Reception woes cited by a growing number of smartphone users were due to surging data traffic and innate problems in the phones’ operating systems, the state-run broadcasting and telecommunications regulator said Friday.“The increase in the use of limitless data call plans has triggered a flood of data traffic, which in turn is impeding call reception,” the Korea Communications Commission said. “The operating systems that the smartphones run on and the wide variety of applications they access also seem to be part of the cause.” The Korea Communications Commission reached such a conclusion after analyzing reports from the nation’s three telecommunications companies, according to a ruling Grand National Party lawmaker of the National Assembly’s culture and broadcasting committee.
The Korea Herald
October 22, 2010
It is speculated that there to be 35 times as much mobile data traffic in 2014 than there was in 2009 - and that this may well be an underestimate, given the iPad boom. According to the report, even if spectrum and device efficiency doubles and the number of cell towers continues to grow at its current pace, the US will need around 300 additional megahertz of spectrum by 2014.The FCC estimates the economic value of this spectrum as $120 billion.
TG Daily
October 22, 2010
US mobile broadband research on consumer’s mobile broadband experience with mobile devices found that despite the rising popularity of mobile broadband, 74% had experienced QoE issues. About 63% of participants said they would they support an active approach to maintaining quality of experience by paying a small fee for services to improve QoE. On the issues surrounding the fair distribution of bandwidth, 63 percent responded positively to traffic shaping. Consumers surveyed stated they would pay a small fee to receive services such as notifications when they have reached a certain spend limit on their mobile broadband service (48%), fair distribution of bandwidth between consumers (45%), personalization capabilities (46%), a bundle sharing plan (46%) and the ability to set spending limits on their mobile broadband account (42%).
TMCnet.com
October 20, 2010
Telecom Italia SpA, Italy’s biggest phone company, plans to “radically upgrade” its mobile broadband network to handle increased data. According to the company’s CEO, Franco Bernade, the network will be overhauled to adapt to the rise in data traffic. The company plans to start offering 21-megabit mobile broadband service in Milan and Rome in December, and initial rollout of 42-megabit service is scheduled for the end of 2011. The company is “very optimistic” about a recovery in the mobile business, sustained by the broadband network plan and increasing voice traffic. Vodafone Group Plc’s Italian unit said Oct. 6 that it plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in mobile-broadband coverage in the country over the coming three to four years.
Bloomberg
October 20, 2010
As users demand faster WiMax and LTE wireless networks and devices, wireless carriers must vastly expand the network infrastructure that carries data from cell towers to central switching offices. The path from a carrier's tower to its switching location, often called the "backhaul" segment, generally consists of a fat pipe made of fiber optic cable or microwave wireless. Craig Mathias, analyst at Farpoint Group stated that backhaul can be the weak link in 4G network rollouts and popular applications like HD-quality streaming video and video surveillance will benefit from faster 4G networks now coming online with WiMax and LTE technologies.
Computerworld
October 18, 2010
According to the leading research forecasts, global mobile data traffic is set to increase 39 times between 2009 and 2014.
IntoMobile
October 8, 2010
Juniper Research has released a report that predicts that the number of LTE mobile broadband subscribers worldwide is on track to top 300 million by 2015. The research firm expects most of the growth to occur from 2012 onward. Although LTE 4G mobile networks will offer dramatically faster mobile network speeds, making mobile data traffic slowdowns less likely, the number of subscribers to LTE networks worldwide will only be around 5 percent. Subscription levels in North America, however, are predicted to be higher (closer to 20 percent) because numerous major operators are planning LTE network rollouts in the next year.
Broadcast Engineering
October 5, 2010
ABI Research found that 16% of all mobile data traffic today is diverted from the macro network onto Wi-Fi or femtocells, but the potential for these offload technologies is enormous. Almost half of all device data traffic will find its way to into home, business and public broadband connections bypassing 3G and 4G radio networks. That would appear to save operators considerable capacity investments. But ABI also points out that mobile data traffic is expected to increase 30 fold overall. Wi-Fi will take a significant burden off of mobile data networks, but those networks will still have to grow considerably.
Connected Planet
September 29, 2010
Goldman Sachs' investment research arm expects a coming boom in wireless data consumption fueled by 4G wireless services and the rise of mobile tablet computers. Goldman projects that wireless data traffic will account for the majority of traffic sent over wireless networks as measured by minutes of use equivalents starting next year. Wireless data usage will surge by more than six-fold by the year 2020 even as wireless voice usage will remain essentially the same. Goldman expects wireless data to generate nearly triple over the next two years, shooting up to $205 billion by the end of 2012.
Network World
September 21, 2010
Google. Skype. Facebook. YouTube. Each of these applications has affected the way we obtain and share information online. Each has encouraged technological innovation, provided tremendous benefits to consumers, and expanded freedom of speech and democracy both here and abroad. These applications were made possible by an open Internet. Preserving this openness—also called net neutrality—means ensuring that all applications offered over the Internet are entitled to a level playing field. Your Internet service provider (such as Comcast or Verizon) can’t block or slow access to YouTube but speed up the delivery of movies from Hulu. Google has succeeded in part because no Internet service provider could enter an exclusive contract with Yahoo! to make Yahoo its proprietary search engine. Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and others have grown because an Internet service provider can’t decide who you call or how and where you share your views online. If we allow Internet service providers to make these choices, rather than leaving them in the hands of Internet users, existing applications could be impaired, and new and innovative applications could be killed before they ever make it to market.
BusinessWeek
September 16, 2010
AT&T has long said that it will continue to invest in and further develop its HSPA network to faster and faster speeds and eventually move on to LTE. AT&T shared just a wee bit more information about how all that will unfold. AT&T Operations CEO John Stankey revealed that the company plans to launch its first LTE network starting in the summer of 2011. AT&T believes it can cover between 70 and 75 million POPs (points of presence) by the end of 2011. AT&T didn't specify how many markets would be covered, nor how many it was targeting for the launch.
InformationWeek
September 16, 2010
The use of laptops and smartphones on mobile networks is a key driver for traffic growth. Operators now face a huge problem if data consumption continues to grow at the rate forecasted. Operators need to have a mechanism in place to address this data tsunami; most will be left with two choices: increase data capacity by upgrading their HSPA deployments, investing in newer technologies like LTE, or stop offering unlimited data plans. Given the immaturity of LTE, it is likely that they will select the latter, easier choice.
Mobile operators have started to adopt usage-based pricing schemes to address the increase in traffic usage.
LTE World
September 16, 2010
According to the ABI Research report, approximately one-sixth of the world’s population will subscribe to mobile-broadband services and due to the increasing Internet-surfing smartphone users it will boost to 1.5 billion in 2015. Mobile Operator and mobile providers are starting to capitalize the increasing revenue growth in mobile broadband services. The research firm also noted that while smartphones are used to access the internet by the majority of mobile internet subscribers, a continuously increasing number are using devices such as iPads, laptops, and netbooks.
ABI Research
September 10, 2010
The spectrum shortage is forcing mobile operators to experiment more with pricing models, new technologies and partnerships, executives speaking at the Mobile Future Forward event in Seattle said Wednesday. "There is a spectrum shortage, and demand will exceed supply, and something has to be done," said Mike Sievert, chief commercial officer for Clearwire. At the same time, demand for wireless data services is growing fast. The mean average data usage is 0.5GB per month, per user in the U.S., he said. Users of Clearwire's USB data sticks, however, consume a mean average of 7GB of data per month, he said. Clearwire's smartphone users consume less, but "way above the average," he said.
PCWorld
September 9, 2010
Data traffic volumes have surpassed voice in the mobile space, a trend that is expected to continue well into the future, an Ericsson official said. Ericsson expects data loads to keep growing. By 2015, there will be 30 times more data than voice on the network; by 2020, data will outpace voice by 1,000 times, said Eriksson.
InfoWorld
September 1, 2010
Wireless providers—especially AT&T and Verizon—are trying very hard to make sure users pay for every byte of data transferred, on every single device. Mobile data consumption is exploding and the wireless providers see dollar signs and an opportunity to cash in. Services like the mobile broadband offerings from Clearwire and Virgin Mobile, however, enable users to break free from the wireless provider shackles.
PCWorld
September 1, 2010
The demand for content rich services continues to increase throughout the global marketplace and network operators are seeking new ways to deliver such content on their current networks. This is not an easy task and many are considering the potential of moving to LTE. For many providers, it is the preferred broadband evolution path.
TMCnet.com
August 27, 2010
LTE commands the lion's share of the wireless market's momentum toward 4G. However, according to a new report by Juniper Research, only 300 million mobile subscribers worldwide will be using the next-generation technology by 2015. The report concluded that most of the growth in LTE subscribers will occur after 2012, but noted mobile operators are now turning to the network technology to address surging mobile data traffic. Juniper said HSPA and other 3G technologies will continue to do the heavy lifting for the next several years.
FierceWireless
August 24, 2010
The serious, well-publicized traffic overloads (including content data and radio signaling) that are starting to choke many mobile networks will only worsen as smartphones and other mobile devices proliferate, and operators must extend capacity. Brute force network expansion, requiring a doubling of capacity, isn’t an option.
ABI Research
August 16, 2010
Instead, several approaches and technologies will play specific roles in relieving network congestion. These include Wi-Fi, femtocells, mobile CDNs (content delivery networks), media optimization, and more.
ABI Research
August 16, 2010
However, while data now contributes slightly more than 30 percent to the total average revenue per user (ARPU), it also uses 70 percent of network capacity. Sharma estimates that by the end of 2010, data will contribute more than 35 percent to ARPU and devour 85 percent of network capacity. So even as data revenue and traffic rises, carriers face two key challenges: One, the handset market is saturated; and two, users on smartphones are boosting their consumption of data at a far faster rate than carriers are boosting their data revenue.
GigaOm
May 17, 2010
Mobile operators face a number of game-changing challenges, including an explosion in data usage, as handset vendors corner the market for applications. Plans to deal with these issues could prove to be a boon for consumers, but also stand a chance of annoying them.
PC World
May 13, 2010
AT&T’s uncapped data plans sound like a great idea. After all, everyone loves an all-you-can-eat buffet. But in this case there are too many patrons and not enough food. AT&T’s data traffic has increased by 5000% over the past three years.
MobileBeat
May 3, 2010
LTE is going to make this problem far more pronounced, for a number of reasons,” he says. “As soon as you offer improved wireless broadband, you open the door to new applications and services. People are always able to come up with new ways of inundating any resource, including bandwidth. We’re going to see more data-driven applications on mobile than we see on the typical desktop, because the mobile device is always with you.
Mobile Communications International
April 19, 2010
The US wireless business market will grow from 78 million subscribers today to more than 90 million by 2013, notes a new report from Yankee Group, a Boston research firm, and Mobile Enterprise Magazine.
The Boston Globe
February 11, 2010
Cisco forecasts that by 2014 we will be using 3.6 exabytes a month on mobile networks worldwide, according to its Visual Networking Index figures released today. (For those pondering an exabyte, it’s equal to 1 billion gigabytes or half a trillion MP3 files.) And by 2014, we’re apparently going to be sucking down 40 exabytes annually from our mobile broadband networks, up from a total of 1.08 exabytes in all of 2009.
GigaOm
February 9, 2010
For example, today, the average mobile broadband connection generates 1.3 gigabytes of traffic per month — while consumers using mobile broadband via a data card pay around $60 a month for a 5 GB-chunk of access. By 2014, the average mobile broadband connection will generate 7 GB of traffic per month, which means that operators are going to have to revamp their pricing plans while also lowering the costs associated with sending bits through their networks in order to keep margins up.
GigaOm
February 9, 2010
The Pentagon and broadcast networks can expect continuing pressure to turn over some of their spectrum to make more airwaves available to the private sector. According to Cisco Systems' annual Visual Networking Index, released Feb. 9, global mobile data traffic increased 160 percent in 2009 to 90 petabytes per month. Cisco predicted that "annual global mobile data traffic will reach 3.6 exabytes per month or an annual run rate of 40 exabytes by 2014," and noted that such traffic "is growing today 2.4 times faster than global fixed broadband data traffic.
eWeek
February 9, 2010
Facing a deluge of Web and video traffic that is pushing the limits of their networks, big wireless carriers are resorting to software shortcuts and other tricks to streamline data traffic even as they can install more cellular towers and roll out next-generation networks. Armed with advanced devices like BlackBerrys, iPhones and Apple Inc.'s coming iPad, more customers are using cellular networks to surf the Web, watch video clips and run apps. While the data traffic means a new and growing source of revenue, managing that rapid growth has been challenging.
The Wall Street Journal
February 2, 2010
AT&T said that it has seen wireless data usage jump by nearly 5,000% in the three years from mid-2006. Much of that has been driven by the popularity of the iPhone. Because of its larger screen and faster processor, the iPad could spur even more downloads, putting even more strain on AT&T's network, analysts and people in the wireless industry said. "The opportunity for network congestion is extraordinary," said Bernstein's Mr. Moffett.
The Wall Street Journal
January 28, 2010
The growing popularity of smartphones and high-speed wireless broadband networks are proving to be two major catalysts for the wireless industry. As a result, expect its revenues to barrel past the $1 trillion-mark by 2013, says Informa Telecom’s & Media, a London-based market research group. That compares to revenues of $208 billion in 2008 and $330 billion in 2009. By 2014, global mobile penetration will hit 92 percent with about 6.7 billion subscribers, the firm predicts.
GigaOm
January 15, 2010
This year may well be the year that wireless operators adopt usage-based pricing models for their heavy-volume mobile data users, according to analyst firm Deloitte. With smartphone traffic eating up increasing amounts of data capacity and a small percentage of those users hogging the largest percentage of that bandwidth, carriers have little choice but to abandon their all-you-can-eat smartphone data plans and implement pricing models more equitable to all of their customers, said Phil Asmundson, Deloitte vice chairman and leader of the firm’s US technology, media and telecommunications group.
Telephony Online
January 7, 2010
The growing consumer demand for data-heavy services will put greater pressure on networks, with flat rate data tariffs increasingly subjected to stringent download limits.
Mobile Marketing Magazine
December 23, 2009
As Apple iPhones and similar devices encourage 3G adoption and growing consumer use of a range of IP-based usage models over various mobile devices, Morgan Stanley expects smartphone sales to surpass the global notebook and netbook market in 2010, and to surpass the global, overall PC market in 2012.
eWeek
December 17, 2009
Carriers' spectrum resources are limited and if these users hog up the capacity, this means less access for others," noted Bill Ho, research director of wireless services at Current Analysis. "This presents a problem with user experience, increases dissatisfaction and ultimately forces a carrier to increase expenses to meet this need.
Mobile Marketing Daily
December 10, 2009
Driven by the popularity and affordability of mobile phones, smartphones, and other wireless devices, IDC's Worldwide Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast (an IDC Database service) expects the number of mobile devices accessing the Internet to surpass the one billion mark over the next four years.
Cellular-News
December 9, 2009
Laptops are still consuming most of the data on carrier networks that don’t have iPhones on them, but once folks get a touch-based smartphone such as the iPhone (and right now it’s the most popular touch-based smartphone out there), the volume of data used by those devices far exceeds that of laptop usage. In other words, when it comes to the network and data consumption, the device does matter.
GigaOm
November 19, 2009
According to new research by GSM Association (GSMA), the penetration of mobile broadband connection has risen dramatically over the past year, the growth rate is around 66% which means more than nine million of new HSPA broadband subscribers are being added globally every month. And 33% of them are coming from Europe and Asia Pacific. The research also predicts that there will be another 27 million HSPA subscriber by the end of 2009, with regions such as Africa, Eastern Europe and the Americas set to see the biggest growth.
Trendy Gadget
November 13, 2009
The number of subscribers accessing social networking sites via mobile device will grow to 607.5 million worldwide by 2013, representing 43 percent of global mobile web users, according to a new forecast issued by eMarketer.
Fierce Mobile Content
November 13, 2009
Mobile internet usage is being driven by Smartphone owners – in particular, Apple iPhone owners. Three-quarters of iPhone owners use the internet on their phone every day," comments Paul Brown, Senior User Experience Analyst at Strategy Analytics.
Reuters
November 4, 2009
Analyst Christopher Dodge adds, "Mobile internet browsing time is also on the rise. Compared to 2008, respondents spend a greater proportion of their time visiting non-operator portals, social network sites and tools and utilities on their mobile phone.
Reuters
November 4, 2009
The number of people accessing the net on mobile phones could soon outstrip the capacity of networks, experts warn.
BBC News
October 26, 2009
Revenues from data are increasing much slower than traffic," said Dimitris Mavrakis, mobile network analyst from Informa. "Where operators are experiencing exploding data traffic, revenues are not following them.
BBC News
October 26, 2009
Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker said today that the tech economy is in a state of recovery, based on the leading indicators that usually signal an end to recession. She was also bullish that a huge shift will come about as the mobile Internet… The shift to the mobile web is no less than a new computing cycle, such as the shift from mainframes to minicomputers, from minicomputers to PCs, from PCs to the web and laptops. Each time one of those shifts happens, the number of users increases tenfold… All of these trends toward mobile Internet expansion will cause huge shifts in wealth creation, Meeker said. In each major computing shift, new winners emerge, and the incumbents fade away.
VentureBeat
October 20, 2009
No doubt about it, a massive data explosion is under way. Data cards, smartphones, application stores, eReaders, netbooks and more — they’re all feeding the frenzy. On the network side, operators are responding with upgrades and migration to next-generation technologies. But all of this emphasis on data and connected devices begs the question: Will operators be ready for the onslaught that is sure to come? Is it possible they will get caught in the crosshairs, similar to what AT&T experienced with bandwidth-hungry iPhone users?
Wireless Week
October 10, 2009
As more people get access to the Internet over mobile phone networks using laptops with 3G cards, or with smartphones like iPhones or BlackBerries, data traffic is doubling every six months globally and growing even more rapidly in some countries… Yet as traffic explodes, revenue from these new services is failing to keep up because of the intense pressure on prices. As a result, investments to improve networks could squeeze profit even further. “Mobile broadband is manna from heaven for consumers, but it is hell for operators,” said John Strand, a consultant to mobile operators… “If they don’t manage this moment carefully, some mobile operators will run into major problems that threaten their very profitability and viability. Some may not survive.”
Reuters/International Herald Tribune
September 30, 2009
Recently, researchers at the Nielsen Norman Group put the mobile web to the test in a usability study that looked at twenty different web sites on six different types of handsets. The results? The mobile web still leaves a lot to be desired. It’s so bad, in fact, that principal researcher Jakob Nielsen, co-author of the study, compared today’s mobile web to the web sites of the early 90’s. But is the mobile web really to blame here for the usability issues? Or is this just a matter of people trying to surf a web that has evolved beyond what traditional cell phones and their awful built-in browsers can handle?
ReadWriteWeb
September 21, 2009
While 60 percent of users surveyed by Yankee Group say they are interested in mobile Internet access, just 3 percent say they are anxiously awaiting 4G and 43 percent say they have heard the term “4G” but don’t understand what it means. That disconnect is just one hurdle service providers must overcome before they can successfully reap the promise of 4G and the mobile Internet. Service providers must overhaul their infrastructure. “In addition to moving to all-IP cores, service providers must adopt holistic strategies to transform their entire network, IT and operational ecosystems,” says Phil Marshall, senior research fellow and author of the report. “Service providers must capitalize on the mobile Internet or perish.”
Yankee Group
September 15, 2009
The current mobile infrastructure as a whole is not well architected for data, the “architecture is wrong.”… In a nutshell, the current solution doesn’t scale well, forcing mobile phone providers to purchase a lot of expensive equipment just to sustain the “tsunami” of data flowing through the core network. Unfortunately, this exponential deluge of data means that it is a losing proposition for mobile providers that typically sell data packages at a flat monthly rate and is a somber reality faced by mobile operators around the world.
Techrepublic.com
September 10, 2009
Two-thirds of Americans now own a video-enabled mobile device, including iPods, cell phones, and laptop computers, up from less than half three years ago… But the new research finds there are very different patterns of video consumption among the devices that more or less seem to follow their screen size. While 42.6% of users of all the devices said they use them to actually watch video, the percentages vary markedly by device: 35.1% of laptop owners say they have used them to view video vs. only 15.3% of video iPod users, and 4.6% of cell phone users.
MediaPost
September 2, 2009
The demand for more bandwidth is coming from the rapid growth of video traffic and the use of the mobile Internet.
eWeek
August 25, 2009
Global revenue for wireless data services (excluding messaging) is projected to grow by 26.2 percent in 2009 to $87.7 billion according to a new forecast issued by research firm iSuppli, which anticipates that figure will grow to $188 billion by 2013. By comparison, iSuppli forecasts total global revenues for all wireless operator services will remain roughly flat at approximately $866 billion in 2009. The report contends that data revenue growth hinges on operators building strategies predicated on four key tentpoles: Monetizing broadband access [hyperlink to Market Analytics page], cooperating with the mobile value chain to develop and offer compelling apps and content, offering revenue-gen erating services that capitalize on consumer mobility, and leveraging mature billing capabilities and subscriber trust.
FierceMobileContent
August 13, 2009
The model of paying a flat $30-a-month rate for data service on a high usage device like the iPhone is likely going away. Carriers are trying to find ways to introduce more tiers and more premium services.
