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    HomeMobile EuropeMaking Mobile Broadband Real

    Making Mobile Broadband Real

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    management & optimisation

    Mobile broadband is one of the more exciting areas of development for mobile operators, promising new business models and services. However, different markets already have radically different uses in mind for mobile broadband.

    Mobile operators are turning to cellular technologies such as EV-DO and HSDPA to provide increasing bandwidth, but the truth is that even such fast networks have intrinsic latency that prevents maximal utilisation of the network. Users experience delays and an unacceptable user experience, even in fast networks.
     
    Today’s HSDPA networks are just starting to be deployed, at bandwidths reported as 1.8 Mbps. However, measurements in a live network showed that when latency is taken into account the perceived bandwidth for a single user is much lower, 0.2–0.3 Mbps in most cases. Considering that bandwidth is typically shared between users, the perceived bandwidth is going to be lower still. Moreover, the bandwidth available isn’t actually being utilised. Much of the actual capability of HSDPA is being wasted because of the mismatch between TCP traffic and the protocols used in radio networks.
     
    Nobody is surprised to find out that the initial HSDPA deployments aren’t performing as expected. Vendors and operators are treating mobile broadband as a competitor to ADSL, but in fact, the real speeds reached are not comparable. There is real danger that subscribers will be disappointed when they actually use the new systems, since the initial limited deployments of HSDPA just aren’t delivering the user experience expected.
     
    The gap between users’ expectations and operators’ ability to deliver are starting to create an opportunity for competition from other types of networks and technology deployments. The deployment of city-wide WiFi networks represents the beginning of a trend that could threaten operators’ dominance of this space.

    Understandably, operators are looking for ways to provide better user experience in the short term, to establish themselves as the mobile broadband providers of choice as well as prevent churn. In most cases, HSDPA is providing enough bandwidth, at least in the short term, for the current usage rates. Indeed, HSDPA is definitely faster for users than GPRS transport. However, field trials increasingly are showing that the bandwidth is not delivering its full potential.
     
    Fortunately, the industry is increasingly looking towards solutions that can be used to overcome the problems of bandwidth under-utilisation, in order to make sure that once the bandwidth is available, it is effectively used to promote the best possible user experience.
     
    A number of solutions provide “push” technology, such as is seen with e-mail programs. Push solutions require client software on each device, and they also should take into account the available bandwidth on the network. Unfortunately, at this point, such applications are not aware of the network at all. Still, such solutions provide a decent way to provide transparency to the network, for limited kinds of usage.
     
    When it comes to real-time browsing and support of a wide variety of devices, it’s necessary to find solutions that aren’t dependent on the device, operating system, or client application on the system.
     
    Initial trials of predictive portal browsing technologies have been quite promising, and it appears that for browsing mobile portals, these technologies also hold promise. Portal boosting technologies do a very good job of utilising bandwidth, reducing page loading time, and providing a very consistent response time when browsing mobile portals.
     
    The most promising technology for achieving a higher level of perceived bandwidth utilisation is optimisation technology, somewhat similar to what has been used in 2.5 and 3G networks. Adapting this technology for HSDPA introduces smart-caching techniques and initial trials are extremely encouraging.
     
    On a live HSDPA network trial, downloads were accelerated more than three-fold in a number of cases. This brought the perceived bandwidth from 0.2–0.3 Mbps up to 0.6–1.1 Mbps. 
     
    The promise of HSDPA and other fast networks is within reach. However, it’s going to require operators to make a smart infrastructure investment to break through the mismatch between the radio network protocols and the TCP traffic being transported over the networks. Using smart optimisation technology, operators can continue to approach the goal of delivering a satisfactory user experience and finally making the promise of mobile broadband real.
     
    Liam Galin, CEO of Flash Networks