Virgin Media Business Warns of Bottomless Pit for Mobile Data Use

Virgin Media Business has warned that UK Mobile Broadband operators are facing a “bottomless pit” as they attempt to adapt to rising levels of data usage, which has increased by 250% over the past two years alone, especially with superfast “4G” services being just around the corner.

The operator states that much of this demand is coming from popular video streaming apps (iPlayer and YouTube), which now come as standard on 83% of handsets, and by 2015 it’s estimated people will be using thirty times more mobile data than they were in 2009.

George Wareing, Head of Mobile at VMB, said:

“There’s a big job on for mobile network operators. Simply put, mobile data usage is like a bottomless pit, it’s expanding all the time. We’re all looking forward to the benefits of 4G, but it raises some tough questions for operators.

There is a delicate balance between customer demand, customer experience and costs. To avoid penalising people for watching their favourite shows or music videos on the move, operators are looking at fibre-based backhaul for cell sites. This can help to ease the strain and provide a permanent fix.

People aren’t going to give up this trend for streaming content and all the indications are it’s going to increase. Operators need to think about the long-term impact and put in place a strategy that’ll make sure customers aren’t affected by a potential bottlenecking of services.”

Naturally VMB has a vested interest in helping operators to meet that demand, although at the same time they do make some valid points. Most consumers will not be able to take full advantage of the best “4G” speeds partly because there won’t be enough capacity to meet demand. But that’s normal for any shared mass consumer service.