Personal mobile devices used at work can present a security problem.
There’s a potentially devastating wireless signaling storm brewing, and SEVEN Networks, a provider of innovative mobile solutions that reduce smartphone data traffic on wireless networks, has released a new infographic depicting the mounting problem that is plaguing wireless networks across the globe.
“Wireless signaling is a tricky topic because often times it’s hidden, happening in the background without any user knowledge, but is growing bigger by the minute as more users download more connected applications” Isabelle Dumont, head of marketing at SEVEN Networks.
The issue of wireless signaling is quickly gaining mainstream attention as the number of smartphones is approaching 1 billion.
On Android alone, 850,000 new devices get activated daily for a total of 300 million in market, each averaging 35 downloaded apps.
Popular apps frequently pinging the network
Many of the most popular apps are constantly pinging the network to check for updates (some up to 2,400 times per hour), each time establishing a new connection and generating up to 30 network signaling events if the radio is idle and needs to be turned on.
This app chattiness not only contributes to the signaling storm but also drains the device battery, and ultimately results in a degraded user experience.
Numerous carriers around the world have already felt the impact of always-on smart devices, their chatty applications and the resulting signaling storm which have caused network congestion or even outages such as the network ‘brown-out’ in Japan in January 2012 where2.5 million subscribers were unable to make voice calls.
SEVEN has a dog in this hunt. It offers a solution to the problem.
Data for the infographic comes from lab tests conducted by SEVEN for its Open Channel traffic optimization solution, which is designed to reduce unnecessary signaling by only connecting devices to the network if updates are available. The solution has been shown to reduce the amount of smartphone-generated signaling by as much as 40% and bandwidth by up to 70%.
