Mobile Carriers Strain To Deliver Sufficient Network CapacityMobile Carriers Strain To Deliver Sufficient Network Capacity

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction," Sir Isaac Newton's observation is evident in the mobile communications marketplace. Data services have been quite popular, but carriers are under duress to deliver sufficient bandwidth to support such connections.In anticipation of the new year, market research firm Juniper Research released its Top Ten Wireless Predictions for 2011. Topping the list was the rise in data traffic. Driven by the delivery of more sophisticated smart phones and the growing use of video transmissions, carriers will find themselves struggling to add sufficient bandwidth to their networks. In addition to upgrading to 4G networks, tiered pricing and Wi-Fi offloads are steps they are taking to deliver sufficient capacity to customers.

Another theme that will become more pronounced in 2011 is the use of mobile devices for electronic commerce. The market research firm expects cell phones to replace credit cards in some cases. In addition, new applications, such selling mobile lottery tickets, are expected to become more popular.

Mobile devices have been gaining popularity recently as pricing has come down and feature sets have improved. These devices have aided small and medium businesses by enhancing employee productivity, however, one challenge has been managing the devices. In 2011, businesses may continue to struggle in that area as they are faced with bandwidth constraints and the emergence of new ecommerce applications.