Smart devices and applications are devouring bandwidth and unleashing a deluge of data traffic on global networks. In 2011, global mobile data traffic was over eight times greater than the total global Internet traffic in 2000.1 Data overload is just one byproduct of the growing ranks of data-enabled devices and apps.
There’s another overload that’s been largely overlooked and under-reported – the signaling storm that’s brewing in the network.
There are two fronts to the storm. The first is radio frequency (RF) signaling hitting the radio access network (RAN); the second is surging Diameter signaling traffic in the core network. While the end result in both is the same – network congestion, service degradation and dropped calls – the nature and causes of each are very different. It’s important for operators to distinguish between the two. One increases network costs; the other drives significant revenues that more than offset the minimal cost.
