Are you ready for the next bandwidth crunch? All of a sudden, the low-profile topic of mobile service provider backhaul network infrastructure has quickly moved to the forefront of telecom industry dialogue. Why all the fuss? Two words -- data explosion.Pent-up demand for data services has created a sense of urgency. While 3G radio technologies such as HSPA have already driven enormous data growth, 4G technologies LTE and WiMAX will exacerbate the problems. Therefore, to help U.S. wireless carriers stay ahead of the growing demand for high-bandwidth wireless services, Verizon has begun offering its advanced fiber-optic network to provide backhaul links between cell towers and mobile switching offices. Read More »

Tags: 4G, LTE, mobile backhaul, network infrastructure, RAN, Service Provider, wimax

I’m a big basketball fan, especially the last few minutes of big games, so I’m feeling quite insane this week after some of my favorite teams lost in the earlier rounds! (On a related note, thank goodness, the women from Cal and Stanford are keeping the Bay Area still involved!) For the benefit of our readers outside North America, I’ll explain that the annual “March Madness” U.S. men’s college basketball tournament is currently in full motion for fans of the 60+ teams involved.

I know what you’re thinking, it’s hard to imagine that anything could possibly be more competitive than the current debate about the ultimate winner of 4G wireless standards adoption, but these college basketball fans can get a little crazy about supporting their own favorite.

The growth of online video will be of interest to the CBS television network, which also owns the Internet distribution rights to March Madness coverage. They expect their online video advertising revenues to increase 20 percent this year to $30 million. And you can play back the highlights on your mobile device wherever, whenever and analyze the three pointer at the buzzer! Of course, once that video content is streamed live online, it may also test the limits of wireless carrier networks as eager fans view the video on broadband-equipped mobile devices. Read More »

Tags: 4G, ip video, march madness, mobile backhaul, mobile video, Service Provider