The deployment of 3G services can be viewed as a turning point in the evolution of mobile networks as people began to realize that their wireless phones could do more than just place calls and send text messages. Those devices became multimedia gadgets that allowed people to take what was to that time limited to broadband connections linked to personal computers with them wherever they roamed.
One of the applications that seemed to garner the most attention from consumers has been video, a service that has transitioned from Youtube clips on PCs to streaming video content accessible from many mobile devices. While video has allowed carriers to usher in mandatory data plans that have cushioned their bottom line, video has also pushed 3G technologies to their limit. Network congestion caused by the increasing use of such bandwidth-intensive applications has caused a number of wireless engineers many sleepless nights.
Looking to help alleviate those concerns, a number of third-party providers have begun to develop technologies that allow carriers to better manage these applications and provide a better user experience for all of their customers.
One such company is Ortiva Wireless, which offers carriers its Internet Video Optimization Gateway, designed to “dynamically shape” the traffic flowing over their networks and provide a more stable platform for all users. The company claims that its platform can provide carriers with up to a 15% bandwidth savings when streaming video content over their networks.
Ortiva Wireless’ CEO Marc Zionts provided RCR Wireless News with insight into how the company’s offering can help carriers in this time of need.
RCR Wireless News: Can you describe the Ortiva Wireless platform?
Marc Zionts: Ortiva’s Internet Video Optimization Gateway helps mobile network operators reduce bandwidth consumed by mobile Internet video, improve the end user experience by eliminating and reducing stalling. Ortiva’s intellectual property provides a different and unique advantage that translates to better quality and radically better scalability than the competition, which drives lower initial and on-going costs, at similar levels of data and bandwidth savings.
RCRWN: What industry segments is Ortiva targeting with its platform?
MZ: Ortiva is exclusively focused on working with mobile network operators around the world and is engaged directly with them or through a network of developing channel partnerships with global and local original equipment manufacturers.
RCRWN: How scalable is the platform across different technology generations (3G to 4G) and across different technology standards (CDMA/HSPA to LTE)?
MZ: Ortiva’s technology is implemented at the application layer and therefore, is independent of the physical layer. We have implemented our solutions on CDMA/HSPA, GSM, WiMAX and LTE.
RCRWN: Which video standards are supported by the Ortiva platform?
MZ: Ortiva’s iVOG supports all common media delivery formats including HTTP-PD (FLV and MP4), AHLS, RTMP/E and codecs as well including H.264, IPV8, etc.
RCRWN: When you talk to people in our industry, many companies claim to offer mobile video optimization and compression solutions. Can you explain what’s different about Ortiva’s solution?
MZ: Ortiva invented technologies that allow better scalability and provide the only real-time, on-the-fly video optimization solution as a result of our unique techniques and intellectual property. Many other firms simply compress video at the expense of quality and then cache these videos in order to use less hardware. This old-guard approach does not provide real time optimization and degrades quality at the expense of bandwidth savings. Ortiva’s figured out how to do something that is truly hard to do – save bandwidth, provide excellent quality and scale cost effectively.
RCRWN: What are some of the biggest video streaming challenges for mobile carriers?
MZ: Very simple, mobile data growth is out of control and the biggest “hog” is video. Cost effectively handling this traffic and providing the highest quality video experience to consumers in line with their expectations is the fundamental challenge that every operator is dealing with right now.
RCRWN: Carriers are currently looking to deal with network congestion through the use of tiered pricing models. How can the Ortiva platform help in handling congestion and perhaps allow carriers to continue offering unlimited plans that appear more attractive to consumers?
MZ: Obviously we can’t tell the carriers how to price their services, but because we offer a truly unique solution for video optimization and compression, they can be more flexible in developing pricing models. Ortiva is working with other key network elements including DPI’s and policy controllers to create and implement policy driven and enforced data plans. This functionality is vital as carriers move from unlimited to plans to selling value added intelligent plans based on speeds and consumption that align with their requirements and budgets.
RCRWN: With the expected spectral efficiency provided by “4G” technologies, are these video optimization technologies still needed?
MZ: TCP is challenged on any wireless network to perform well and needs help on bigger pipes given the greater variation of bandwidth fluctuation. Furthermore, there will never be enough bandwidth given the insatiable appetite for mobile video and the high-bandwidth options being offered from the device manufactures (i.e., HD 1080p, 3D handsets).
RCRWN: Ortiva has had success in raising funds from venture capital firms. Can you describe the current environment for VC fund raising as it relates to the wireless space?
MZ: Ortiva is very fortunate to have a mix of financial VC’s (Avalon, Mission and Artiman Ventures) along with strategic investors (Comcast and Intel). Raising money is always challenging and over the past few years, VC’s have become especially critical of carrier infrastructure plays due to the long sales cycles and lumpy nature of the business. That being said, they recognize that if you are solving major areas of pains for the carriers, it can become a lucrative business with attractive exit opportunities.
Follow me on Twitter @ meyer_dan
