The Perfect Storm

We have all heard and read about the dramatic increase in mobile data usage. For me it became real when I talked to an employee at a mobile operator in Europe. He described as a "perfect storm": the combination of flat rate tariffs + the deployment of new infrastructure (3G, HSDPA, HSUPA) + new "iPhone like" phones have created an explosion in mobile data traffic in his country: + 50% over the past 3 months! He worries that his network would reach maximum capacity within 6 months...

Not only is he running out of bandwidth, but he is also blind: 98% of the subscriber traffic bypasses his own portal and goes directly to the (mobile) Web; he can't see the traffic. The key questions which are keeping him awake at night: - are people using mobile phones or PCs with 3G cards? Which services are used? What is the typical usage pattern?

For him, the solution was to install a Qosmos ixMachine behind the GGSN. The traffic data is extracted in real-time from the network, structured into .CSV files and fed into a BI software (QlickView in this case) which generates detailed reports. This creates complete visibility on devices (phones/PCs), services and usage patterns. Armed with this detailed network intelligence, he is now able to adjust pricing schemes, develop new services, optimize network traffic and even envisage partnerships with selected Web players.

I suspect most mobile operators face similar storms - luckily network intelligence technology is now available to help them ;-)

Jerome