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seconds; today, that same shopper expects a page to load in twoseconds or less.As indicated above, if a website doesn’t load quicklyenough, customers might jump ship. Bixby tellsINTERNET TELEPHONY that up to 40 percent ofshoppers will abandon a site after waiting three secondsfor a page to load. What’s more, nine out of 10 people willnot return to a site after a disappointing experience, andthree of those individuals will go on to tell others abouttheir experience.Although mobile devices and networks are much more limited inthe bandwidth they deliver today than wireline broadband networks,more than half of mobile subscribers expect websites to perform aswell on their handhelds as they do on their home computers. Aboutthe same number (almost 60 percent), say they’d be unlikely to returnto a site that provided a poor mobile web experience. ITManaging the BarrageService Providers, Suppliers Address Mobile Data on Multiple FrontsBy Paula BernierFourth-generation wireless technologies like LTE andWiMAX promise to bring faster broadband connectionsand all-IP-based technology to cellular networks.In some places, they’re already doing it. But if youthought that means wireless service providers will havemore than ample network capacity for the long term,or even for the immediate future, you thought wrong.With mobile data demand what it is, even some of thesebrand new 4G networks will soon be overwhelmed byrich media traffic.Cellular network operators like AT&T and Verizon alreadyare taking steps to address all that through the introductionof more usage-based service packages, as opposed to sellingservices on an all-you-can-eat basis.“I expect to see more experimentation with flexible andmore creative data service bundles and offerings,” saysTekelec CMO Susie Kim Riley. “For example, operatorsmay introduce tiers for video, music or gaming servicesinstead of pricing plans by the byte. These appeal to awider range of customer segments, increasing retention andservice plan personalization.”Some wireless service providers also are doing bandwidththrottling to put the lid on capacity consumptionfrom so-called bandwidth hogs. Clearwire is oneexample of a company that has admitted to employingthis procedure.Meanwhile, some of the equipment providers thatoutfit – or hope to enable – mobile data networks aredeveloping, delivering and, in some cases, deployingsolutions that help wireless service providers moreefficiently manage their networks and the applicationsthat run over them.For example, Eden Rock Communications sells a real-timecoordinated multimode resource optimization solutioncalled Eden-NETT. It’s a controller that talks to thousandsof base stations to get information about what’s happeningon each channel.Chaz Immendorf, president and CEO, says that provideswireless service providers a map of how best toallocate radiofrequency at any given time. As a result, awireless service provider can realize capacity improvementson the order of 40 percent for LTE networks,Immendorf says.While the Eden Rock solution puts the focus on the networkinfrastructure, some outfits have come out with solutionsthat target how applications and content are handled.In this category, Opanga offers a video delivery optimizationsolution that prepositions content on endpoint devices. Thatway, service providers can offer customers the content oftheir choice for something like $1 a month, and prepositionthat content on devices so networks don’t get overloaded,explains Opanga CEO Dave Gibbons.“We just think that has to happen,” he says.The Opanga solution was in trials with service providers inthe Americas as of late last year.Subscribe FREE online at www.itmag.comGoTo:GoTo:Table of Contents • Ad IndexFebruary 2011 INTERNET TELEPHONY ® 55