Mobile Personalization

The mobile data industry has evolved rapidly over the past two years, with growing 3G penetration, lower-cost smartphones and USB laptop dongles contributing to growth in data traversing operator networks. This has resulted in congested networks in many urban centres where often 80 per cent of data traffic is managed by just 10 per cent of cell sites. The result: dropped data sessions, slow network speeds and pent up subscriber frustration.

Many operators are now adopting a range of strategies including mobile data traffic offload that will reduce costs and alleviate network congestion. Mobile data offload in particular can deliver costs savings in the range of 20 to 25 per cent per annum. In the US market, operators could save between $30 and $40 billion per year by 2013.

 

Offload – the ability to shift mobile data traffic from one network to another in a way that is transparent to the subscriber – is a key component of an effective network congestion reduction strategy.

Operators implementing a data offload strategy can address a number of congestion pain points including overburdened core network elements and congested cell sites. By routing traffic directly to the Internet before it reaches core network elements, such as the SGSN, GGSN and service grooming servers, operators can reduce backhaul costs.

 

Moreover, operators deploying intelligent policy controls that reside in the core network can offload subscribers attached to congested cell sites based on a real-time knowledge of conditions and subscriber entitlements, location, and usage behavior.

 

An offload strategy also has the added benefit of supporting new business models including revenue-sharing partnerships between 3G and Wi-Fi service providers and enabling fixed operators to leverage their infrastructure to offer mobile data services via Wi-Fi.

 

Operators with Wi-Fi assets – or partnerships with Wi-Fi providers – can provide a seamless user experience, which is important in any mobile data offload strategy. During times of network congestion a user’s mobile data experience may be degraded, resulting in inconsistent streaming, slow downloads, and frustration.

 

However, if the user is in a Wi-Fi hotspot zone, the mobile device can detect the Wi-Fi network and automatically redirect the device to Wi-Fi using the connection manager. Once connected to Wi-Fi, the user’s services runs smoothly with no delays.

 

By applying service controls that transparently re-authorise and re-authenticate the user, the entire experience of shifting from 3G to Wi-Fi is seamless to the user.  

 

Orange, Verizon Wireless and AT&T (News - Alert) among other operators are taking advantage of Wi-Fi offload. Fixed operators can also gain a greater share of the mobile subscriber wallet by ‘onloading’ subscribers to their Wi-Fi networks to deliver wireless services.

 

The addition of intelligent policy controls allows operators to apply flexible business rules to offload certain subscribers, devices, or applications to alternate networks.

 

This enables operators to alleviate the problem of congestion by correlating congested cell sites with subscribers, their service plans, and usage behavior in real time.

 

Network intelligence plays a key role. Smartphone users do not always have Wi-Fi turned on and network systems cannot force a device to switch it on, which presents challenges for operators who want to offload traffic.

 

By pushing policies directly to the mobile device, operators can enable Wi-Fi to be switched on when cell site congestion and Wi-Fi availability correlate. These device policies can selectively offload subscribers attached to priority congested cell sites, enabling a consistent experience that reflects subscriber entitlements, location, devices, and usage behavior.

 

The increasingly sophisticated requirements around data offload will require intelligent policy controls that communicate directly with device connection managers and make intelligent real-time decisions to manage the process selectively. Those operators that get the process right will benefit most by profiting from the growth in mobile data consumption while easing congestion by sharing the load across access networks.