Pipeline Publishing, Volume 6, Issue 8

	This Month's Issue:
	LTE Propels Forward

Confronting the Capacity Crunch

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increase is such that the construction would be continuous. That’s not to say that wireless providers shouldn’t add more towers. They should, and quickly. However, other tactics are necessary to make the traffic more manageable.

Much more feasible solutions exist.

Service providers can undertake projects to offload their wireless traffic onto WiFi, spreading out the data-load. In addition, by employing 4G technology, providers can create more efficient networks that are able to crowd more bits onto the same amount of spectrum.

Furthermore, existing backhaul solutions can be made cheaper and more efficient by employing technology like Ethernet. Using Ethernet to carry the bits and bytes from the cell sites to the switching centers alleviates some of the congestion on the network in a way that’s cost-effective for the provider.

However, larger, more efficient networks are only part of the solution.

Operators also need to meet the challenge of increased data demand with business models that embrace the increase in demand, but also ensure that the heaviest users are carrying their fair load of the cost associated with providing them with the quality (and quantity) of service they demand.

Differential pricing may be the key to ensuring that premium levels of quantity and quality are available, but that those premium levels are charged for appropriately. That may mean that faster speeds and top-shelf QoS cost more. That may also mean that the time of day is taken into consideration in charging models, requiring those who demand massive bandwidth at peak times to pay more. ‘Best effort’ and off-peak offerings would cost less. Some consumers may be initially frustrated by such a charging model, but (assuming data users don’t get socialized into expecting low-cost, all-you-can-eat plans like many wired network customers have) wireless customers already expect to pay more for higher levels of usage, so tiered pricing for level of service is a natural progression.

Other tactics are necessary to make the traffic more manageable.

Needless to say, OSS and BSS firms could be absolutely invaluable in providing help at every step of design and planning networks that can deliver tiered service, regulate QoS, and rate, charge, and bill appropriately. An appropriate OSS strategy could equip wireless carriers to enable backhaul for the purposes of lowering the cost associated with massive amounts of wireless data, monitor, rate, charge for, and bill out different levels of data usage, and generally create more visibility into the wireless network in order to make all of these cost-saving and data-load-reducing steps more feasible and cost effective.

Options:

Let’s go back to the fifty-fold car increase that greeted you after your return from Car-free Island. New roads would have solved the problem, but they would have taken so long to construct that they never would have kept pace with demand. No one would be able to drive at all in the meantime.

However, a well-run highway department could have found ways to shift some cars onto less-congested side-streets, and some passengers onto trains or buses to maximize efficiency. Tolls could have been instituted to ensure that those who use the roads more heavily are picking up a portion of the additional cost of maintaining those roads. Incentives could be put into place to encourage motorists to use the major roads at off-peak hours, such as discounted tolls for usage during hours in which traffic is generally lighter.

These steps would help to reduce, streamline, and optimize traffic in ways that simple construction couldn’t.

Wireless providers have a choice. The traffic is coming, and it’s not going to slow substantially any time in the immediate future. How will they handle the traffic they’ve been forced to deal with today and the traffic they must deal with tomorrow?

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