Video bandwidth--something's gotta give
By John Roese
news.com.com
Story last modified Tue Feb 13 06:40:49 PST 2007
Thanks to the Internet, high-speed mobile broadband technology and new devices like Microsoft's Zune and Apple's video iPod, people are no longer tied to their televisions.
And then there's YouTube, a media phenomenon that created an entirely new entertainment category, allowing everyone to use their own video equipment to share portions of their lives and deliver video to anyone with an Internet connection. In the near future, video will become even more pervasive, moving beyond amusing TV clips and rudimentary home movies. In the U.S., Verizon Wireless is setting things in motion with its announced plans to offer YouTube videos to its subscribers.
We're talking about the new "killer app." But the exploding demand to view videos anywhere, anytime, will place a huge strain on today's 3G mobile networks. These networks were designed to manage low-bandwidth services like voice and data. Mobile video is possible on today's 3G networks, but only to a limited number of subscribers or for transmitting a basic broadcast service. If only 6 percent of wireless subscribers were to simultaneously view unique, streaming video during peak hours of use, our current mobile networks would be unable to support the load.
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