In Indonesia, nearly a third of the population is younger than 15 years old. So Telkomsel, the leading mobile operator in the country, offers a data plan called FlexiChatting for customers who want to do just one thing: gain access to and update Twitter and Facebook accounts on their cellphones.
Tailored mobile data plans like the one in Indonesia may soon become the rule.
Telecommunications executives in Europe and the United States say that offering plans designed for heavy users of social networks or, for example, video, will allow more efficient use of overstressed wireless networks and make those who use the networks the most pay for that use.
“We are moving into a phase of microsegmentation,” said Hans Vestberg, chief executive of Ericsson, the leading maker of mobile networking equipment, during an interview at the Mobile World Congress, the industry’s largest annual convention, held in Barcelona last week.
“This is going to have a direct effect on data plans around the world,” he said. “Without more efficient use of networks, the vast majority of people on this planet will be cut off from the Internet.”
Over the past two years, most mobile operators around the world have abandoned the unlimited data plans used at the outset of the mobile Internet. In their place, operators have adopted plans that tie data download limits to prices — the more you download, the more you pay.
But such tiered plans are probably only a transition toward a new way of charging for mobile data that will be much more exact, down to the kilobyte, and often tied to the destination of the Web browser.
by Kevin J. O'Brien, NY Times | Read more:
Photo via: BioScholar
Tailored mobile data plans like the one in Indonesia may soon become the rule. Telecommunications executives in Europe and the United States say that offering plans designed for heavy users of social networks or, for example, video, will allow more efficient use of overstressed wireless networks and make those who use the networks the most pay for that use.
“We are moving into a phase of microsegmentation,” said Hans Vestberg, chief executive of Ericsson, the leading maker of mobile networking equipment, during an interview at the Mobile World Congress, the industry’s largest annual convention, held in Barcelona last week.
“This is going to have a direct effect on data plans around the world,” he said. “Without more efficient use of networks, the vast majority of people on this planet will be cut off from the Internet.”
Over the past two years, most mobile operators around the world have abandoned the unlimited data plans used at the outset of the mobile Internet. In their place, operators have adopted plans that tie data download limits to prices — the more you download, the more you pay.
But such tiered plans are probably only a transition toward a new way of charging for mobile data that will be much more exact, down to the kilobyte, and often tied to the destination of the Web browser.
Rising demand for mobile data, accelerated by the adoption of smartphones, is putting a strain on most of the world’s mobile networks and operators, even those that have invested billions of dollars in capacity and speed.
One billion people, or one in four cellphone users in the world, have mobile broadband subscriptions, according to Ericsson. By 2016, the number of mobile broadband users is expected to increase fivefold, as less expensive smartphones come on the market.
by Kevin J. O'Brien, NY Times | Read more:
Photo via: BioScholar
