Cap My iPhone? Try This Instead, Mobile QoS Vendors

You have probably read about AT&T’s problems dealing with the perpetually clogged 3G networks in San Francisco and New York:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/iphone-caps/. To solve the problem, AT&T is considering one or all of the following: 1) convincing heavy iPhone users to stop using so much data (despite paying for unlimited plans), 2) introducing caps on data usage, 3) stop selling iPhones, 4) investing heavily in the network, 5) shut down streaming of live baseball games…

How can Qosmos Network Intelligence Technology help?

First, we can help mobile service assurance and QoS vendors. Not all solutions are not designed to support the huge throughputs generated by unlimited wireless data plans, which means that KPIs can no longer be computed on the entire traffic (as in the past). Instead, service assurance vendors must now select a panel of mobile users and analyze a representative sample to deduce QoS.  They can use Qosmos probes to analyze only a portion of the traffic on mobile users IDs (IMSIs) and create a panel of representative users. For video, they don’t need to keep any of the content, but just identify that it is video traffic. The filtered traffic is then forwarded at bandwidths which are manageable for existing solutions. This means that mobile QoS vendors benefit from instant scalability and can remain operational even if traffic throughputs increase dramatically. In this case, AT&T can better optimize subscriber experience and iPhone users are happier!

Second, we can help suppliers of network optimization solutions. They can use Qosmos ixEngine to get full visibility of iPhone traffic and applications. This allows them to work with AT&T to optimize networks, prioritize applications and make many iPhone users happier. Bandwidth could be allocated in a more fair manner, so that heavy users don’t hog all the resources, and AT&T can optimize their investments in 3G network equipment.

Conclusion: you don’t need to cap my iPhone!

Jerome