Nokia Siemens is promising to boost the capacity of base stations with a new approach to handling data traffic.
Liquid Net allows current wireless broadband networks to automatically adjust to demand by utilizing spare capacity and can boost the traffic handling ability of base stations by 10%, according to Phil Twist, head of marketing at NSN’s network systems division.
“The network is aware of the traffic running over it and can adapt to it,” Twist told TelecomAsia.net, adding that the same capability can be applied to the type of content being transported such as video streaming, which he notes requires less capacity on a smartphone than a high-definition stream to a tablet PC. “It can adapt minute by minute.”
Twist says the firm designed Liquid Net to be compatible with operator’s current infrastructure, noting the evolutionary approach means carriers aren’t throwing away investments made to date. The system also allows telcos to offer guaranteed levels of service quality, which can be pitched as premium services to enterprises.
However, that capability isn’t NSN’s attempt to get involved in any net neutrality debates. “It’s up to operators to answer the net neutrality question,” Twist says, noting that carriers are perfectly within their rights to degrade services to those paying less for their bandwidth.
Twist expects the service to be popular in all markets – developed and emerging - but notes the latter could generate the most business because developing countries are more reliant on mobile broadband due to a lack of fixed-line infrastructure.