A recent report from network analytics company Actix on the state of mobile networks concluded that the vast majority of smartphone sessions are data-related and not initiated by the user.
The report, based on real-world network data from eight network operators on four continents, found that on 3G networks smartphones were generating data traffic 85% of the time, while only about 10% of their traffic was voice-related. Meanwhile, less than 30% of those mobile data sessions were initiated by the subscriber. Smartphones were making three to 10 data connections per hour of use, and 60% to 70% of the sessions were less than 50 kilobytes in size.
Actix also noted that while LTE networks are delivering on promised performance, they are as yet lightly loaded – with the real challenge being whether they can live up to network quality and speed with heavy subscriber use. Overall, the report concluded that the radio access network is responsible for about 80% to 85% of poor voice quality, and data sessions in congested areas “often fall below video-ready speeds.”
Congestion is highly uneven. One in five network locations was responsible for 80% of network traffic, Actix found, and 5% of sites carry half the traffic. Fifteen percent of sites were responsible for 85% of customer experience issues, and data performance fell by as much as 50% when users went inside, according to Neil Coleman, director of marketing for Actix – who said there is “no blanket solution” for operators coping with those statistics.
“The data performance on today’s network varies greatly and is far behind the high speeds that handsets are capable of reaching,” Coleman said. “There’s a lot of demand from users for fast data rates, but handset technology is advancing much more quickly than the networks can deliver.”
Among the report’s other findings:
- Smartphones released last year generated 2.5-times more data traffic per subscriber than smartphones released in 2009.
- If current BlackBerry users switched to Apple or Android smartphones, mobile traffic would increase 20%.
- Network data suggests that more than 80% of downloaded data is from smartphones, with tablet usage “minuscule compared to smartphones.”
For more detail from Actix, RCR Wireless News spoke with Coleman.
