Services To Keep Data Flowing On 4G NetworksServices To Keep Data Flowing On 4G Networks

4G networks are slowly being deployed now and that pace will increase in the coming years. While the speeds promise to dazzle us there will be added complexities that network operators are going to have to overcome. The faster the network, the more noticeable a slight service interruption is to the end user. Funambol has a new mobile sync solution that they claim will minimize these performance issues for the consumer.It sounds counter-intuitive. You'd think the faster the network the more its raw speed would overcome the issues of dropped packets or other performance issues. The reality may be a bit different though. Unlike when you are stationery, when you roam around your office or town on a 4G network, your phone may actually have to switch to 3G or even 2G in some circumstances and that can cause issues when you are burning through a lot of data. Take streaming for example. While you are riding around town watching a video, if you momentarily lose 4G signal, even for the briefest of time, you run the risk of resetting the connection. Worst case, the video reconnects and starts from the beginning. That could be a pain.

Funambol has announced their solution to this problem. Their new mobile cloud platform will help keep your mobile device in sync with the content you are trying to access. The software is managed by the manufacturer or more likely, the carrier. They have several top tier networks in the US and Europe that are currently putting the software through its paces and preparing for launch.

Basically, the software keeps up with your device and feeds data to it as requested. If there is a service interruption for any reason, the content will resume where it left off. While this sounds great, there is a caveat. It only works with data managed by the carrier. That means if you are watching a movie from a carrier video rental service at some point in the future, or are participating in video conference call hosted by you carrier, the mobile cloud sync software will keep supplying the data to your device as needed. However, if you are using something like Skype for your video conference or watching YouTube videos, then you are on your own.

I know, you are thinking "yeah, but who is going to pay extra for this from the carrier?" Carriers, in my opinion, are notorious for charging outrageous fees for things you can get for free. Verizon has a $9.99 per month access fee for their turn-by-turn direction software. You can get much of that for free using Google Maps. Ring tones for $2.49? You can buy a full blown song from Amazon's MP3 store for $.89 to $.99. It makes you wonder how much they would charge you for their video conference service.

I talked with Funambol's VP of Marketing, Hal Steger, on this. His response was that right now, it seems these services will be bundled with 4G service. For the speed, you'll probably pay more than you do for today's 3G service, but as an added value, the carriers would likely include some of these extras. That would mean a lot to some consumers. Getting video conferencing working on your PC isn't always the easiest thing in the world, and it is more difficult on a mobile device. By bundling the service though, it means more people would use it and see the value in paying for 4G service. And that is where Funambol's software comes in. It makes the data transfers smoother and more reliable.

Funambol isn't the only one working on this. I suspect a lot of carriers are interested in this type of technology. These are the kinds of services that can keep them from becoming the dumb pipe that cable and DSl providers have become. Truthfully, 3G providers are mostly a dumb pipe when it comes to data, at least on smartphones. This type of software though could bring users back to premium services offered by a carrier. If you rented a video to watch from your carrier for $3.95 or rented it from Amazon for the same price, you are more likely to rent from your carrier if it provides a more seamless video stream because of this type of sync software.

We'll see what happens when the 4G networks launch in full, complete with the bandwidth intensive content it was designed to handle. Do you think consumers would take advantage of these services if offered by their carrier, or would they instead prefer to use outside content providers?