There has been a surge in attention on the subject of the mobile data tsunami – the increasing burden on mobile networks from the explosion in data usage and the ‘I can’t do without wonderful mobile web experience’ it has unleashed in consumers. However, the talk must turn into solutions if this data explosion is to continue and consumers are to remain enthusiastic. Currently, network capacity utilization is in some cases running very “hot” – previous peak load traffic hour levels are extending to many more hours in the day, and the heavy load continues to grow. As challenging as it is today to manage such a tsunami of data, there is more to come: two tidal waves of demand for mobile data are approaching fast, and if unchecked, they will overwhelm current networks.
Two Waves
The first of these tidal waves comes from the increasing number of smartphone users. According to new research by Yankee Group, data traffic is expected to increase more than 29 times between 2009 and 2015, with most traffic coming from smartphones. Forty-three percent of people surveyed by Yankee Group said they were likely or very likely to purchase a smartphone as their next device.
The second tidal wave is not as close, but it looms larger. Fueled by the increasing array of laptops, netbooks and other wireless capable devices, this wave of demand isn’t constrained by a handheld form factor or mobile usage patterns. Again, networks are already feeling the strain of tethered laptops, but what happens when machine-to-machine communications (e.g. a home security system streaming video to a mobile device), proliferate?
No Magic 4G Bullet
Today, many more networks are running at capacity as the effects of the first wave of data demand are just starting to be felt. Many networks are an incremental heavy-traffic surge away from experiencing prolonged network blocks. LTE and other 4G systems will address some of this bandwidth woe. But network upgrades are multi-year projects, spectrum is still a scarce resource and demand will likely continue exceeding supply constraints. However, there are practical steps operators can take today to further optimize their bandwidth shortages and future-proof their network investments until they are able to perform a full network upgrade.
Traffic Optimization
Presently, one immediate way for operators to avoid the storm is by trimming the traffic usage by reducing the amount of content sent over the air through compression techniques, such as video optimization and network acceleration. This option kills two birds with one stone. By actually reducing the data required for video and other data, through smart technology within the operator network, the operator is doing both the network and the end-user a favor. For the network there is a reduction in the data traffic burden. And for the end-user, because data usage is reduced, users experience faster video, faster browsing speeds and more immediate access to content.
Intelligent Analytics
Another vital tool in the operator’s survival toolkit is an in-network mobile analytics suite. Analytics can turn the raw data on the network into actionable intelligence to improve traffic flow. For instance, analytics can pinpoint the users and devices most likely to cause network congestion. It can also provide traffic reports to locate and alleviate bottlenecks across the access network, backhaul or web applications/sites, and show the best use of limited mobile network resources. Mobile analytics can also help guide the operator to increased revenue by identifying popular mobile Internet and data trends on which to base relevant services, promotions and premium content.
Alternative Solutions
As is increasingly the case with transportation, we will need to develop more usage based pricing capabilities and related plans to alleviate congestion. Borrowing a page from the playbook of transportation, why not consider metered usage for time of day, faster lane access, specific content access etc.? For example, we can provide pre-paying subscribers the capability of monitoring their own usage of mobile data, while pay-as-you-go data plans could include a variety of time-based options, like hour-, day- and week-long plans. A little extra creativity with data plans could result in users signing up for a day or a week of mobile data usage or even a MB plan and accruing incremental revenues for operators that could total into the millions per year. Other customers could be provided with custom speed (QoS) access to their favorite social networking sites. This micro segmentation is rich with possibilities.
Expanding on the idea of metered usage, consideration should be given to providing different tiers of service. The tiered pricing model has worked well in the wired internet world where users are willing to pay a higher price for a faster web experience and some related features that work best in this high speed low latency environment. Tiered pricing could translate well into the mobile internet world.
There are many options available for addressing how we manage and monetize this mobile data tsunami and not one will do it all. The combination of various software capabilities and tools will be critical to facing the mobile data tsunami head on. Taking the essential steps now will help ensure that consumers won’t be caught in the middle of the storm. It is no exaggeration to say that a tsunami of data is coming. The question for all of us is can we reach the safety of higher ground in time?
