Is WiFi the only answer?

With data use rocketing, will mobile networks be able to cope? The managing director of The Cloud says wifi is the best way to get the best experience.

 

 

The skyrocketing rise in the number of smartphones in use is leaving millions of people disappointed with the performance of the internet on mobiles. Whether it is downloading the latest app, searching the web or accessing social networks like Twitter or Facebook, clogged mobile networks will remind many of the M25 Christmas traffic. 

Smartphone ownership in the UK now stands at 15 million, having increased by 70 per cent over the past year. This Christmas alone, nearly a third of adults are expected to purchase a smartphone. The UK simply does not have the mobile infrastructure to cope with this rising demand. This leaves millions of us frustrated with our mobile internet experience.

As mobile companies compete over the increasingly lucrative smartphone market, some providers are beginning to offer unlimited mobile internet access across their 3G networks. This is a bold move and one that may win them market share. But given the current state of the 3G mobile internet experience, the move could leave operators unable to manage the increase in demand for data.

The problem is that the amount of data we’re using when we’re accessing the internet via mobile phones is already doubling every three months even before the explosion in smartphone purchases this Christmas. Our online activity is becoming increasingly demanding with larger downloads, the increased popularity of video streaming and the continued momentum of social networking via mobile. All these activities require large amounts of data usage and the 3G networks were not designed for such heavy data demands. Smartphones are up to 30 times more data hungry than traditional mobile phones resulting in a ‘clogging up’ of the 3G networks, similar in theory to a traffic jam on a busy road. As more people join the road, the sheer weight of traffic slows every individual journey down. Ultimately, this data crunch affects all mobile data users leaving us increasingly frustrated. 

This problem is only going to get worse, leaving users disappointed that their mobile internet experience is being limited in this way. Wi-Fi is another option, but many consumers do not realise the difference between 3G and Wi-Fi. Mobile Wi-Fi, just like a wireless internet connection on a laptop, allows users to connect to the internet on the go and is available through hotspots in public spaces. Wi-Fi delivers a more reliable and faster mobile internet experience than is currently available on 3G. Most smartphones are enabled with Wi-Fi so consumers just need to ensure the connection is enabled to make use of these services.

 

Applications such as Fastconnect will automatically log you on to Wi-Fi hotspots wherever they are available, so you don’t have to compete on the 3G networks. They’re ensuring that over the Christmas period, and going forward, Wi-Fi internet users have the quick and reliable mobile experience that they signed up for – and that their phone was designed to deliver.