Bytemobile Sees Optimization as Must Also for Next Generation Networks

    

Publishing traffic statistics reports and forecasting the future of networks in a way that will fit the vendor's offering is a common marketing exercise done by most traffic management vendors. The most recent report comes from Bytemobile, a vendor of mobile optimization solutions.

It joins Allot's MobileTrends (here), Cisco's VNI (here) and Sandvine's "Mobile Internet Phenomena" (here).

Bytemobile's report concentrates, naturally, on mobile video - the most attractive aspect of its traffic optimization solutions. See the press release "Bytemobile Releases Global Metrics Report on Mobile Video" - here. The report itself is available for downloading after registration - below are some of the findings.

QoS issues for real-time applications such as streaming video may be resolved in a number of ways - such as DPI based traffic prioritization as well as data (video) optimization. The latter has a major drawback (depending on the device used for viewing the video - see video below on ByteMobile's Lossy Media Optimization) – it reduces the user's quality of experience and requires larger Capex investments from carriers implementing it in a large network.

However, Bytemobile does not miss any opportunity to push optimization as the only possible solution and even concludes that "Stalling occurs on the fastest of networks, underscoring the probability that not even next-generation network technology will be sufficient to satisfy user demand for data services."

Nevertheless, Joel Brand, vice president of Product Management at Bytemobile does mention another way:

“As data traffic continues to increase, not only will the user experience deteriorate, but operators will have to implement stringent billing policies to curtail data usage. Bytemobile’s field-proven optimization solutions enable operators to remain competitive by serving more users and traffic within their existing infrastructure, offering a better user experience to reduce churn and requiring fewer policies to control traffic.”

See also - BE (UK): World Cup Without Buffering - here and Airtel Offers "Cricket without Buffering" on YouTube - here.

Some of Bytemobile's findings are:

• Mobile video usage is the single largest factor in reduced bandwidth availability and network congestion
   
• Mobile users opt for lower-quality videos to avoid stalling and enjoy a better media experience (see chart below)
   
• Stalling occurs on even the fastest of networks and a quality user experience requires optimization of video content
   
• On average, 60 seconds of video watched on a 3G network included approximately 10 seconds of stalling, optimization reduced stalling to nearly zero
   
• YouTube accounts for 36% of the total video traffic on wireless networks worldwide, and 4 of the top 10 video domains are adult content-specific sites generating nearly 15% of the total video traffic on wireless networks

Source: ByteMobile