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Studies
of those viewing YouTube videos
uncovered that most do not watch
each complete scene. This means that
downloading the full video in advance,
a standard feature to avoid glitches
when watching, wastes a lot of
capacity. Additionally, the video may be
sent in a format suitable for larger
screen sizes, again wasting capacity.
Several vendors offer solutions that
identify and actively buffer streaming video, transcode it into smaller and
more efficient formats, and limit the
amount downloaded in advance.
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Wireless providers that can strategically manage the will gain competitive advantage. |
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download at offpeak times in
the middle of the night, saving precious
resources during peak times. However
this might leave individuals with
computers unprotected from the latest
exploits, potentially opening up the
network operator to legal claims. The
issue is further complicated in that
most laptops are switched off
overnight, and so unable to process
the update at that time of day.
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Such
solutions need to work seamlessly with
both the server and a wide range of
smartphone devices to provide a good
viewing experience.
Improve application design: A more subtle form of data optimization
involves encouraging and persuading application developers to write better
behaved software. Many free and commercial applications are not written with due
consideration of their impact on network resources. An application rating system
can help further, by rating applications based on their behavior.
Software program updates, another
large source of data traffic, could be moved to
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Finding the Right Combination
The capacity crunch is highly complex and there is no easy fix or single
solution. Wireless providers are likely to use a combination of the solutions
outlined above (as well as new solutions that crop up as next-gen networks
evolve), based on cost/benefit analyses and factors such as time to deploy,
impact on customer satisfaction, and integration with marketing strategy. Though
the effects of the crunch are numerous and have impact across operational
boundaries, opportunities exist within the crunch. Wireless providers that can
strategically manage the crunch as they roll out next generation networks will
gain competitive advantage over rivals that choose less effective strategies.
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