The global infrastructure provider, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has unveiled a solution that will help deliver services and contents fluidly across networks to control the looming traffic increase on mobile data.
The solution, Liquid net, will enable operators unleash frozen network capacity by using automated, self adapting broadband optimization. This makes the network self aware of its operational status and services being consumed.
This comes in the wake of increased mobile broadband uptake from the growing number of users expecting higher speeds and demand for capacity. Currently there are 500million mobile broadband subscribers in the world, with Safaricom having 5million of its subscribers connected. This has been attributable to the slowness in broadband connectivity.
According to the company’s head of Technology in Africa, Karri Kuoppamaki, network providers should brace themselves for the increasing traffic that will be due to heavy internet use through video uploads which are getting sophisticated, unexpected events and unpredictable broadband demand.
“By 2020 networks need to be ready for 1000 folds traffic increase with the Zettabyte age of the internet set to dawn in 2015. The increasing use of broadband during, sport events, royal weddings or even graduations will likely cause traffic. These are unpredictable events that networks need to be aware of,” said Kuoppamaki.
Kuoppamaki said demand for broadband use is dynamic depending on place and time, with most people in the major towns and cities having a high demand capacity in the morning and late in the evening. He added that if network providers will be able to contain the fluctuations, they will be in a position to maintain customer loyalty and increase their revenues through new business opportunities.
“Sudden increase in demand or changes in network traffic causes bottlenecks in different elements of the network leaving huge chunks of capacity idle. With liquid net, network providers will be able to unleash the frozen network capacity that can flow to fulfill the unpredictable demand,” said Kuoppamaki.
The royal wedding between the Duke and Dutch of England that took place in April this year resulted to a traffic increase of 26 percent on data through personal computers and 15 percent on mobile phones.
He also noted that unpredictable events like football, makes people converge at a central place and can lead to traffic through live video streaming after a score or when a fan wants to explain an event to a friend. These builds pressure on the existing networks calling for extreme network flexibility from telecommunication providers.
Liquid net has an in-built intelligence and real-time monitoring capability to allow the network recognize where demand is coming from and instantly re adjust itself to deliver the necessary capacity to meet the demand.
The technology also comes with a multipurpose hardware to control network flexibility through software defined applications. This, company’s head of technology in the region said it will ensure the user saves costs on repair and the need for buying more softwares.
“Having different softwares becomes tedious when the operator experiences a breakdown. You will require tools, different personnel to service the soft wares, making it costly. The multipurpose hardware will save the user on costs,” said Kuoppamaki.
According to Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) five years ago the penetration rate stood at 25 percent. Currently the number has increased due to the increase of mobile subscribers in the country, which is at 25 million accounting for 63percent of mobile penetration. It is expected to hit 75 percent in the next five years.
