Much has been said about how 4G will help overcome mobile broadband capacity issues. It will help, but will it be enough? That’s the question.

Web usage on mobile devices is on pace to double this year due to drivers such as “always on” social networking and bandwidth hungry video, the increased capabilities of phones and unlimited data plans. 4G network capacity may not be enough. Remember when 3G was set to solve the capacity problems of 2G?  We can see from AT&T with the iPhone in the US and O2 in the UK, just to name a couple, that 3G capacity only goes so far.  Besides the fact that we must service current 3G challenges, it will be only a matter of time before demand outstrips 4G capacity.  Operators can reduce payload and make better use of network capacity through additional methods. One option is by taking advantage of in-network intelligence (as with Novarra’s Vision platform) to provide a quality web user experience while reducing over the air data transfer, in some cases as much as 90%.  Also, by adding a network proxy, an operator can update or add services that are immediately available to the entire subscriber base by taking advantage of cloud-based computing.

More about this topic in an article for RCR by Novarra’s Randy Cavaiani:

Tags: 4G, cloud computing, distributed architecture, Mobile Broadband, mobile browser