A report from telecom software specialist, Enea, has concluded that a typical mobile network operator could reduce their end-to-end network energy consumption by more than 10% and make annual savings of up to $10 million by deployment of traffic management solution that dynamically optimises video streaming.
Citing figures from mobile trade association the GSMA, the report highlights growing demand of mobile video, in share of data volume. It calculates that a typical radio access network (RAN) currently accounts for 73% of energy costs for the average mobile operator, with video content accounting for up to 70% of the data volume.
Yet it It adds that as network speed and functionality improves, data and energy consumption will increase further, creating a problem for environmentally conscious operators looking to fulfil their environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives without compromising user Quality of Experience (QoE).
Enea also cites ABI research showing that mobile data is seeing a compound annual growth rate of 32 %. “We see video streaming and gaming as key drivers of this growth,” said Fei Liu, Industry analyst, ABI research. “As such it is essential to consider how these flows can be optimised for delivery both in terms of resources used and user experience.”
The new Enea traffic management solution is said to be able to optimises automatically video content streaming in real-time so the amount of data being transferred can be reduced without affecting QoE. According to the research, once deployed, the solution could lead to a 20% reduction in the amount of data needed to deliver video at the same perceived quality, resulting in average energy savings of more than ten percent across the network. Based on the average wholesale price of electricity, this says the company could save a typical operator over tens of million of dollars annually.
The report offers a typical scenario where content providers automatically match video streaming to the available bandwidth. As network access improves, this often results in Ultra HD (UHD) video content being streamed to mobile devices with small screens. As the resolution increases, so does the demand on bandwidth and physical resources. One hour of HD video (1080p) will consume four times more data than one hour of DVD quality (480p) streaming, but with no noticeable difference to an end user on a mobile device.
"Operators need to deliver a quality network experience to end-users to be competitive, but they also have to contend with rising costs due to energy prices,” remarked Osvaldo Aldao, VP and head of telecom product management at Enea. “These costs can’t be simply passed on to the end-users. The Enea traffic management solution is the answer to maintaining a great user experience and handling high density traffic like Video; this means the data volume is reduced, and this will directly drive down the energy consumption.”
Looking at how the 5G Service Engine works in practice, Enea first noted that a packet gateway in 4G and user plane function in 5G are critical components when analysing data flow between devices and the internet, such as data metering. However, these components do not have the necessary capabilities to detect the category of content, so cannot differentiate between video streaming and other forms of traffic flow, such as downloading or updating software applications. can make such distinctions for both 4G and 5G traffic, allowing video streaming flows to be automatically optimized independently of the content provider or end-user. Crucially, the content is never decrypted, so net neutrality is preserved.
Yet it It adds that as network speed and functionality improves, data and energy consumption will increase further, creating a problem for environmentally conscious operators looking to fulfil their environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives without compromising user Quality of Experience (QoE).
Enea also cites ABI research showing that mobile data is seeing a compound annual growth rate of 32 %. “We see video streaming and gaming as key drivers of this growth,” said Fei Liu, Industry analyst, ABI research. “As such it is essential to consider how these flows can be optimised for delivery both in terms of resources used and user experience.”
The new Enea traffic management solution is said to be able to optimises automatically video content streaming in real-time so the amount of data being transferred can be reduced without affecting QoE. According to the research, once deployed, the solution could lead to a 20% reduction in the amount of data needed to deliver video at the same perceived quality, resulting in average energy savings of more than ten percent across the network. Based on the average wholesale price of electricity, this says the company could save a typical operator over tens of million of dollars annually.
The report offers a typical scenario where content providers automatically match video streaming to the available bandwidth. As network access improves, this often results in Ultra HD (UHD) video content being streamed to mobile devices with small screens. As the resolution increases, so does the demand on bandwidth and physical resources. One hour of HD video (1080p) will consume four times more data than one hour of DVD quality (480p) streaming, but with no noticeable difference to an end user on a mobile device.
"Operators need to deliver a quality network experience to end-users to be competitive, but they also have to contend with rising costs due to energy prices,” remarked Osvaldo Aldao, VP and head of telecom product management at Enea. “These costs can’t be simply passed on to the end-users. The Enea traffic management solution is the answer to maintaining a great user experience and handling high density traffic like Video; this means the data volume is reduced, and this will directly drive down the energy consumption.”
Looking at how the 5G Service Engine works in practice, Enea first noted that a packet gateway in 4G and user plane function in 5G are critical components when analysing data flow between devices and the internet, such as data metering. However, these components do not have the necessary capabilities to detect the category of content, so cannot differentiate between video streaming and other forms of traffic flow, such as downloading or updating software applications. can make such distinctions for both 4G and 5G traffic, allowing video streaming flows to be automatically optimized independently of the content provider or end-user. Crucially, the content is never decrypted, so net neutrality is preserved.
