Reality Check - LTE and QoE

 
Is Riverbed looking at the MNOs market?

An interesting article @gigaom by Ed Robinson (pictured), General Manager, Web Content Optimization at Riverbed Technology, explains why other technologies may contribute more to the subscriber QoE than migration to LTE.
 
"One major difference between 4G and 3G is that a 4G network is all IP-based, so it passes information between phone and carrier exactly the same way as a Web browser communicates with the Internet. 4G also boasts an increase in theoretical maximum throughput from 14.4 Mbps (mega bits per second) to 100 Mbps or more. But theoretical maximums are like the theoretical miles-per-gallon on a new car. They’re nothing like what you experience day to day.
 
In the real world, a 4G network delivers maybe three to five Mbps, and 3G networks two to three Mbps. This is due to distance from the cell tower, interference from walls and objects, and people moving while using their device — real world things" 

"Carriers have been fine-tuning their 3G networks to account for these real-world variables for years. Because 4G is newer, it hasn’t had anywhere near this much tuning yet".

"..When it comes to Web performance, you need to invest in the areas that have the highest likelihood for significant returns. The networks are already fast enough. We need to find other areas that promise more return on performance investments. By using techniques such as compression, HTTP request merging and dynamic layout effects to optimize content, we can make vast improvements in real-world speeds and load times. The opportunity in this area of acceleration can return as much as 40 to 50 percent improvements in load times".

See also "BTM Survey 2012: How MNOs will Manage Data Congestion?" - here.

See "Think 4G is 10 times faster? Think again" - here.