Operators have reacted to the swell in data usage with a variety of strategies that include volume-based tiers, usage caps, time-of-day usage pricing and data-speed throttling. While this may address the immediate challenge of preserving network integrity for the majority of users, it has also led to increased customer confusion and “bill shock,” higher support costs and, ultimately, higher customer churn.
Advancements in communications technology can be seen everywhere today, but the most prevalent trend is mobile video. Mobile video and data demand is exploding, driven primarily by the growing popularity of mobile video applications. Mobile video traffic could reach 66% of all mobile data traffic by 2015 according to a recent Cisco report.
Facing increasing resistance to building more cell sites along with new services that demand much higher network capacity, mobile operators are looking for alternative ways to build out their infrastructure. This is changing the relationship between mobile operators and equipment vendors.
The communications industry is faced with transaction volumes in the billions of records per day. It is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years in large part due to increased adoption of smart devices, but also the fact that any one consumer now holds a number of different devices, each generating many gigabytes of data every day.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but...
What the wireline Internet has taught the world is that eventually power shifts from the ones providing the pipes to the ones providing value-added service. Unless net neutrality goes away, I expect this same phenomenon will take place in the wireless domain.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but...
The FCC has announced that wireless customers will begin receiving real-time alerts next year if they are about to go over their monthly voice, data or text-message limits. While this is a typical practice for some operators, making it mandatory is a favorable development for both U.S. carriers and their consumers – and, based on carriers’ widespread acceptance of the new standards, they are well aware of this fact.
As data consumption continues to skyrocket, service providers are coming to terms with the fact that a once voice-centric market is rapidly turning into a data-centric one. Consumption of data on mobile networks is being driven by a perfect storm of ubiquitous mobile broadband, smart connected devices and new data services. While the growth in data consumption may be exponential, the growth in data revenues is somewhat less stellar. Service providers around the globe are tackling the very real issues of how to best monetize data services while ensuring the best quality of experience.
Operators are desperate for spectrum that will facilitate LTE migration. By 2020, Morgan Stanley predicts that there will be more than 10 billion connected devices globally. Consumers increasingly expect access to data anywhere and on any device, placing increasing pressure on mobile networks. LTE offers operators the chance to relieve some of this pressure and deliver data at a low cost per bit and low latency.
Service fulfillment is one of the twin pillars of the traditional OSS/BSS architecture, turning customer orders into active communication services and mirroring a parallel flow of chargeable records from network to bill. But these straightforward days are fast disappearing – are we now witnessing fulfillment’s final finale?
Self-organizing networks (SON) is a key element of next generation radio access networks, especially LTE where SON techniques are an integral part of the LTE specifications. While SON in the RAN network has been defined through organizations like 3GPP and NGMN, SON in the mobile backhaul space remains undefined. Here, I like to present my take on what SON means in the context of small cell mobile backhaul where SON techniques are set to play a prominent role.
