Amdocs has released new research into mobile traffic showing that the ever-increasing demand for data may exhaust the capacity of 4G/LTE network hot-spots within the next two to three years. The annual Amdocs State of the RAN research highlights the urgency for service providers to develop a “smart data” capacity strategy.
This year’s report focuses on areas with high smartphone penetration – downtown/city centers and some of the world’s major stadium events. These radio access network (RAN) hot-spots are getting hotter as smartphone and other wireless devices proliferate and consumers take advantage of new technologies, including 4G/ LTE. The research is based on analysis of more than 25 million voice and data connections at some of the busiest network locations around the world in the past 12 months.
Key findings include:
- Hot-spots continue to get hotter: The top 20 percent of locations in cities account for 80 percent of all network traffic.
- LTE alone will not solve the problem: LTE is delivering increased network capacity by offloading as much as 50 percent of traffic from 3G networks but the ever-increasing demand for mobile data may exhaust this new capacity within 2-3 years.
- The RAN has the biggest impact on network customer experience: 80% of dropped voice calls and more than 50% of data throughput issues originate in the RAN.
- Data demand is fueled by new devices and the technorati dominate consumption: The majority of network data usage is being driven by only 10 percent of subscribers, consuming up to 10 more data per session than the average user.
- Social media and “second screens” dominate stadium events: Sporting and entertainment events already create significant surges in mobile data demand. During the event itself social media uploads and “second screens” (watching content on a mobile device at the same time) creates a double spike, increasing data sessions by up to 50 percent.
You can download the full report from Amdocs here.