The seemingly insatiable demand by users for more data has taken many players in the telecom and communications sector by surprise. To keep up with demand, new infrastructure is often needed and particularly data centers – the heart and brain of any network. With speed to operations being essential, prefabricated and modular data centers that can be deployed in mere days have become all the rage.
Global mobile data traffic grew 81% in 2013, according to a recent report by Cisco (Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update). Last year’s mobile data traffic was nearly 18 times the size of the entire global internet in 2000. Smartphones and tablets are driving this traffic explosion. A typical smartphone generates 48 times more mobile data traffic than a basic-feature cell phone.
And it is not slowing down any time soon: global mobile data traffic is expected to increase nearly 11-fold between 2013 and 2018, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 61%. By 2019, the number of smartphone subscriptions is expected to reach 5.6 billion, according to Ericsson.
So where does this leave mobile operators, scrambling to benefit from this data boom?
To cope with the increasing traffic, telecom infrastructure is key. And that often means investing in new infrastructure, and better infrastructure. There are many ways to improve efficiency in every part of the network, from smarter OSS solutions to ultra-high efficiency antennas.
Let us take a look at maybe the most important link in the chain: the data center. High quality, efficient data centers are essential. They house and power all the equipment needed for transmission of data and are both the heart and brain of any network.