MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — Uptake for devices that drive wireless data and video usage continues to explode, unabated, so it’s no wonder that the management of all those bits is a particular focus for mobile operators. At the heart of many conversations at Mobile World Congress this week is the fact that operators are facing their largest challenge with the necessity to manage their networks in the face of unprecedented levels of traffic and unprecedented consumer expectations for the user experience. Network intelligence, policy management, deep-packet inspection and more are thus emerging as major themes during the event.
Telecom spending on wireless data will more than double during the next four years to $93 billion from $43 billion in 2009, according to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and no operator wants to lose out because of a lack of preparedness.
“The global potential for connected devices is huge – it’s more than just mobile phones and laptop PCs. It can be anything that has a mobile connection embedded in it such as a camera, a music player, a car, a smart meter or a health monitor,” said Alex Sinclair, chief technology and strategy officer at the GSM Association. “Predictions around how many devices will be connected to mobile networks vary, but we expect to see up to 50 billion connected devices over the next 15 years, finally making the prospect of a truly connected lifestyle a reality. Reducing the cost of innovative health care solutions, lowering carbon emissions and substantially improving energy efficiency are just some of the significant societal benefits connected devices will provide the world over.”
Nokia Siemens Networks chief executive, Rajeev Suri, outlined the changes required by mobile operators to cope with the huge rise in mobile traffic caused by smart devices. Addressing press and industry analysts attending this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Suri cautioned that if the blunt “just add capacity” approach used by other vendors goes on, this will be enough to bring most networks to a painful, grinding halt.
Nokia Siemens Networks predicts that by 2015, annual mobile data traffic will reach 23 Exabytes – equivalent to 6.3 billion people each downloading a digital book every day. Pure capacity is just one issue, however, as the unique properties of mobility, such as intermittent connectivity and shifting location, coupled with the increasing range of smart devices, require mobile broadband networks to be far more intelligent in their handling of traffic growth.
