“These type of devices are going to rapidly change how people communicate and consume media, but they also present a range of challenges for mobile network operators.”
“A recent report by Arieso shows that the iPhone 4S has nearly doubled the amount of data being downloaded by users than with the iPhone 4, which is a great illustration to the problem: as features on smartphones become more compelling, demands being put on operator networks increase.”
“Operators cannot afford to restrict the amount of data subscribers consume any more than they already have. To do so would be to risk a backlash and potential increased customer churn. Instead, operators need to look at how they can develop their networks to support the inexorable rise in bandwidth demands, while keeping their cost base low. Key to this will be ensuring that the backhaul portion of the network can cope. The backhaul connects base stations to the core network and has a great impact on the quality of service consumers get. Operators need to optimise their backhaul networks to handle high-bandwidth services.”
“Carrier Ethernet is a good solution to this challenge – it offers a cost-effective and scalable architecture that allows carriers to control costs while supporting the next-generation of mobile applications, solving the problem of bandwidth demand. Putting in place sufficient capacity and resiliency in the backhaul, operators will be able to cope with the demand in additional bandwidth generated by devices such as that launched by Panasonic today.”