Mobile videos: The 800-pound elephant in your wireless network

The 800-pound elephant in your network is… drumroll… Mobile videos as a new means of interpersonal communication. This new reality is causing ripples effects throughout wireless networks both big and small.

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It’s not just these two social media video platforms that are causing strain to the network, it’s other mediums such as Google+ Hangouts, Apple’s Facetime, Skype etc.

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Previously we would rely on telephone conversations for interpersonal communication.  Then it was mobile phones.  Text messages.  Then it was pictures.  Now it’s video.  Theoretically, the increased reliance on video for interpersonal communication, and the recent proliferation of social media platforms offering video services, is only the beginning of a potential social movement.

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With personal technology becoming more capable of performing video functions and people gradually becoming more familiar with the usability of mobile videos, this type of communication seems here to stay.  The question becomes, is your wireless network prepared for interpersonal video communication and the unpredictable influx of transferring large data files that inevitably comes with it?

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The natural direction is to move to photos and now video communication, which is causing an exponential increase in data usage when compared to 160 characters messages. While it is still unknown what impact those videos will eventually have on mobile networks and in turn our data plans – we do know that as video streaming continues gaining popularity, mobile networks must be up to the task.

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Juniper specializes in helping service providers move mobile subscriber data more efficiently throughout the network. Almost all the video we’re seeing now is store-and-forward, but networks have the capacity to support real-time two-way video communication like we used to see in Star Trek. Interestingly, there’s a new generation of users who have grown up in the smartphone world. They choose to use their mobile phones for social networking first and voice calls last.

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This has a dramatic impact on network providers and communications in general, but as Juniper partners with the world’s leading service providers, mobile networks will be up to the task.

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Original Post: Effects of Instagram Videos on the Mobile Network – J-Net Community