Deloitte forecasts that global 4G revenues could reach £60 billion by 2014, with more than 200 operators running networks across roughly 75 countries. In the UK, O2 plans to launch a 4G service, increasing competition for EE, while China Mobile intends to invest $30.1 billion in its network this year, allocating about a quarter of that budget to TD-LTE technology.
Subscriber growth is expected to surge: Deloitte predicts global 4G subscribers will roughly triple from 2012 levels to about 200 million as users take advantage of faster browsing, improved email, higher-quality mobile video, sharper images and richer content enabled by advances such as Ultra HD and 4K. With rising demand and intensified competition, mobile operators face two linked questions: how to remain competitive and how to make 4G deployments profitable. The answers affect network capacity planning, service capability and operator strategy.
Even with the higher speeds and expanded coverage that 4G delivers, demand for mobile bandwidth is likely to outpace supply in several key areas. Video consumption, interactive two-way video, and applications shifting from desktop environments to mobile devices are major drivers of data growth. Operators therefore need to both increase capacity and use available bandwidth more effectively to protect service quality and maximize return on investment.
To address these challenges, Tata has developed a Hosted Policy Exchange designed for mobile operators. This cloud-based software solution gives mobile service providers finer-grained control over subscriber-level behaviour, including bandwidth allocation, application usage and network priority. With such capabilities, operators can craft more targeted offers and experiment with alternative charging models that better align revenue with usage and content economics. For example, a model might let a content provider cover network charges when subscribers access that provider’s content, rather than billing the subscriber directly for the data.
While 4G will substantially boost mobile access speeds and enable richer services, demand pressures will persist. Mobile service providers need advanced management tools and flexible commercial models to maintain connectivity and quality as traffic spikes occur. More dynamic usage controls and pricing approaches will help operators monetize their networks more effectively, making it easier to justify the significant investments required to deploy and expand 4G infrastructure.