Over a month ago, I participated in a radio blog / podcast with Tech in Twenty. The theme was mobile congestion. Please listen to the 20 minute broadcast/podcast/radio interview since it was riveting! Seriously, it was fun, the interviewers Luis and Jennifer asked good questions and I think the interview is interesting. But then again, that’s me 
Let me briefly go over what I covered in that podcast. Mobile congestion is something we’ve all experienced likely multiple times and it is best exemplified by the “spinning” icon you get on your phone when you’re trying to access a video. Everything just slows down. I think we can all understand that. And with more tablets, more smartphones, more smart mobile whatevers, this problem is just going to continue to get worse.
The interviewers then asked me, OK, why don’t the carriers just build more towers? Well, they could and in fact do, but in reality there are many reasons for the “spinning” so there are multiple ways to attack the problem. First of all, the carriers can ask the subscribers to pay more when they are using the network as an on-ramp to the internet ALL THE TIME. So that’s why you see many carriers having data capping pricing plans. The carriers can also buy or build additional capacity such as adding cell towers are leasing more transmission lines. New technology like advanced codecs come into play. Upgrading networks such as going to LTE, or advanced versions of 3G, also come into play. Also, instead of using the mobile cellular network you can use WiFi as an offload mechanism. And finally, one can maximize the existing capacity of the network by optimizing the traffic that flows through it.
All of these are part of the solution and they were wondering how Dialogic played in the space and why we were unique. Great question. We play in the space by offering solutions that maximize existing capacity through optimizing the traffic. This is a very cost effective and fast way to add more capacity to the networks, which is why carriers would come to us. And we are unique since have capability and expertise in BOTH voice and video, not just voice, or not just video.
We covered a lot of other ground as well, so go listen. I had a good time with it.
