RIM UK boss Stephen Bates reckons operators and manufacturers have a task ahead of them to meet the increasing demand from users for more mobile data
“Buzz terms in the industry right now are ‘data capacity’ and ‘capacity crunch’; things the consumer is all too familiar with. This is an issue that will certainly prevail in 2011, but one that must be addressed by the entire ecosystem.
“According to Wireless Intelligence, global mobile penetration is on track to reach 100 per cent in 2012, with subscriptions to match population figures for the first time.
“This growth, combined with rising consumer expectation to be able to access increasingly complex services on their mobile devices, means demand for mobile data is higher than ever.
“As such, the efficiency of a device and its software platform, as well as the efficiency of the data itself, will become increasingly important.
“The industry is beginning to recognise this may impact the ways in which operators differentiate future services to subscribers, favouring less data-hungry devices and operating systems.
“With mobile bandwidth an increasingly scarce resource, the device’s role in reducing the capacity crunch will become a likely focus for operators.
“As such, some device manufacturers will need to do more to address the data efficiency gap and design and build products which are as efficient as possible in their use of this resource.”
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