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billion, or more than 30.5 percent, of all service revenues came from data services, up from 25.1 percent in 3Q08.”
However, that increased use means dealing with more traffic, which means network spend. “We have averaged more than $5.5 billion annual investment in our network since 2000,” Lewis said, “and are constantly looking at how to manage what our customers want to do on the network.”
Other providers, also wrestling with an increasing demand for bandwidth, are using other tactics, such as pushing for increased spectrum allocation from the FCC.
In a recent FCC filing, T-Mobile said that the Commission “should not be swayed by one wireless carrier’s (Sprint Nextel’s) misguided argument that proposals to provide major additional quantities of spectrum for mobile broadband overstate the needs of the industry.” In addition, T-Mobile stated that “the Commission, the U.S. government, and the industry should proceed with the spectrum reallocation process as quickly as possible, while continuing to streamline and improve relocation procedures.” Also, the filing stated that “T-Mobile wholeheartedly supports the Commission’s stated intentions to consider a wide variety of options for identifying new spectrum suitable for mobile broadband, including spectrum currently used by broadcasters.”
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Other providers are using other tactics, such as pushing for increased spectrum allocation from the FCC. |
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iinterests to employ the sort of OSS/BSS systems that could help them identify stranded assets and use them to their best ability.
In addition, proper OSS/BSS systems can allow for the identification of bandwidth hogs that use absurd amounts of bandwidth (often busy with P2P uses of questionable legality) and the tiered pricing or bandwidth caps that would require those users to better carry their own weight.
Furthermore, an acknowledgement of the bandwidth crunch should also reflect an understanding that not all bandwidth hogs are P2P junkies.
During the keynotes at SUPERCOMM 2009, I was struck by the remarks by Richard Cotton, of NBC Universal. He railed against piracy, and promoted alternatives like Hulu and NBC’s Olympics coverage website as proof that legal alternatives to piracy and unlawful P2P exchanges exist. However, that doesn’t address the issue that those streaming sites, while allowing the content owners to profit, don’t do a whole lot for the service providers who provide the plumbing that delivers the bit to the consumer. Whether that bit is
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So, increased network build-out and enhanced spectrum allocation are part of the push.
However, industry analysts, like Craig Clausen of Chicago’s New Paradigm Resources Group (NPRG) assert that there’s no one answer to the demand for more bandwidth. “Service providers need to consider employing a multi-level approach to solve the bandwidth issue,” said Clausen. “Part of that will involve additional towers and more spectrum, but the approach may also involve better back office and support systems to improve the overall efficiency of managing this increasingly complex networks.”
And that’s at the heart of where OSS/BSS players come in. Managing a glut of bandwidth demand may require more than just more towers and more spectrum. There’s a fantastic amount of squandered and ll-used bandwidth floating around out there. CSPs should know that it’s in their best
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lawful or unlawful, it can still be a heavy load to haul if there’s no pricing structure in place that differentiates between heavy data consumers and light data consumers. That’s something that OSS/BSS players and CSPs need to work out.
There are answers available for CSPs who seek them. Towers, fiber, improved backhaul: These things all help and are unquestionably necessary. However, these things take time and cash. There are OSS/BSS answers to some questions that can help in the short-term and help even more in the long run.
Customer demand for more data isn’t going anywhere. Demand must be met with supply, and that means that CSPs must do whatever they can to meet the customers where they are. That means getting creative with OSS/BSS solutions.
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