A massive increase in the number of people using smart phones is putting huge strain on the mobile 3G networks. Bandwidth intensive features and web browsing habits have led some industry experts to suggest that the Internet itself simply cannot cope under the strain. On first reflection, this could appear to be somewhat sensationalist. Growing Internet usage, largely driven by growth in the smart phone market and an increase in mobile web browsing, has forced network operators such as O2 to spend in excess of £1 billion on upgrading infrastructure. As such, the level and magnitude of mobile web browsing in the UK is actually a staggering 18 times higher than this time last year. 

Vodafone has experienced staggered download times and complete network blackouts as users continue to raise concerns over the service.  Top O2 technology representative Derek McManus compared watching a high quality video on YouTube using an iPhone to being the equivalent of sending 500,000 text messages across a network. This statistic only serves to exemplify the way in which the smart phone has altered the entire mobile phone industry and assisted in putting far greater pressure on our networks. It’s not just smart phones that are driving this new demand for high network speeds; it’s also the increase in streaming video usage through hard-wired home computers and PC’s. Cisco has warned that by the year 2013, streaming video on the web will account for 90% of all traffic. 

Unless some of the old copper wiring in our network is soon replaced with faster more efficient fibre optic cables, by the year 2013, popular services such as the BBC iPlayer will simply grind to a standstill. In essence, our dilapidated network infrastructure is struggling to cope with the rate at which technology is changing and the UK is simply not equipped for smart phone usage and the other gadgets of tomorrow’s world. Cisco has also stated that the UK is 31^st out of 66 countries including Latvia and Taiwan when it comes to download speeds. The pattern that is currently emerging shows that far eastern ‘tiger economies’, eastern Europe and Scandinavia are the furthest ahead in being able to cope with bandwidth intensive services such as streaming video. 

The average current download speed in the UK is 4.75 megabits per second. In order to cope with the demand for increased bandwidth and transfer speeds, the network should be able to operate at 11.25 megabits per second. This demand is being driven primarily by services such as iTunes and Xbox Live providing high quality HD movie files to users across the network. However, these are still emerging technologies that are only currently being used by a small segment of the market known as ‘early adopters’. The real headache for network operators is the current mass market streaming video services such as BBC iPlayer and YouTube. Watching 30 minutes of low quality footage on YouTube is the same as sending 78,000 emails at one time. 

Whilst cutting edge services such as the BBC iPlayer are enhancing the viewing experience of millions of users across the UK. The flip side to this is that the quality of service will ultimately decline unless the network is improved through the use of fibre optic cables.

If you are interested in creating a web based streaming video service or an iPhone application, please call Waracle directly on (01382) 529528.