NSN’s LIQUID NET APPROACH

The answer to problematic mobile internet connection, at last!

The unexpected growth in demand for internet usage especially among Smartphone users, brought about by the popularity of social networking sites and radical evolution of new applications utilizing the internet, has caused downtime and often failure of mobile phone users to connect to the internet.

NSN Customer Operations Manager Frankie Naranjilla

Often, those that have paid a premium for their internet connections, mostly post paid subscribers of Communications Service Providers (CSPs), end up frustrated about paying so much and not being able to succeed with their chat, calls, messaging or data download, games, movies or access to networking sites.

For the CSPs, which absorb the brunt of frustrated customers, the solution is often to upgrade the infrastructure (cell sites and more hardware and software acquisition and upgrades) that could hardly be recouped from their current subscriber base and sales of accounts.

To be able to earn more, they resort to giving packages, usually for pre-paid customers, like unlimited calls or text, unlimited surfing and immortal texts and calls. But these packages tend to aggravate the connection even more and the CSPs end up being more frustrated than ever to find ways to maximize or improve their revenues.

With the operation of the Network Labs of Nokia Siemens Network (NSN), opened last July 2011 by President Aquino, solutions to these recurring and worsening connectivity concerns are slowly being crafted and rolled out to operators like CSPs, social networking sites and even hardware and software providers.

NSN Solutions Manager  Medelle Oliviar

NSN officials briefed media recently on the impact that smart phone applications left “always on” for internet mails, social networking and other sites to connectivity issues. “More often than not, leaving these applications always on—for instant updates—tend to deny access or interrupted connections to other smart phone users who have paid for the service,” said Manuel Palomo, Solutions Manager for NSN.

In addition, certain areas like central business district, malls and schools often experience “peak loads” during the day, where connectivity problems occur. This demand shifts to residential at night time, which again the CSPs must be able to address in real time.

Internet connectivity issues are not exclusive to the Philippines. In fact, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where NSN launched its newer data solutions and applications last February, it was noted that “always on” applications on “keep alive” messages cause terminal state changes, for which the phone has to exchange signalling messages with the core network.

Smart devices send 8 times more signalling than laptops, it was reported in the Barcelona launch.

Providers of global voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services invest 5 times more for data than for voice, but ironically the revenues from voice is 5 times more than data.

And with the number of newer VoIP providers, who give this service free to customers growing like Facebook and Google (aside from Skype), the connectivity must be enhanced to ensure that customers do not suffer from interrupted service.

The global mobile traffic forecast is expected to hit 43 exabytes by 2015 coming from mobile voice (16 kbps); mobile tablet, mobile laptops and mobile handheld.  The 1 gigabyte per subscriber per day usage is “approaching faster than anticipated,” NSN said.

Through the liquid net approach, problems like providing connection to places where they are most needed at any time of the day will soon be addressed because the liquid net is self aware and self adapting and the software- defined apps are based on multi- purpose hardware.

Also, the liquid net provides for inter-lined architecture and is very evolutionary, the NSN said.

The other benefits of liquid net are: premium services with premium experience, higher revenue potential of more than 50 percent; the network can immediately follow where the demand is heavy, there is reduced risk of churn of 25 percent of high end smart phone users.

For the CSPs, the liquid net can unleash up to 80 percent of unused baseband capacity and up to 65percent of capacity gain in the cell, high operational expenditure savings in the core with up to 80 percent footprint reduction in the core and up to 65 percent lower energy consumption and up to 60 percent savings in transport network.

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In a recent briefing of local operators, , NSN Solutions Manager  Medelle Oliviar explains how NSN’s Liquid Net Approach can innovate today’s network to meet the forthcoming broadband wave: unleash frozen network capacity, fluidly adapt to meet unpredictable broadband demand, enhance network capital efficiency, with superior user experience and new revenues.

NSN Customer Operations Manager Frankie Naranjilla, together with other NSN officers, updated the media on Nokia Siemens Networks company strategy, vision and business focus for 2012, Shaping the Digital World, which was presented at the Media World Congress 2012 held in Barcelona.