I was a bit disappointed in the Super Bowl streaming last night, and from some preliminary results from our customers, it looks as if many others were as well. A sampling of customers looked at low participation: A DSL operator had less than .5% of their subscribers watching, and multiple MSOs had almost 2% participation – which is lower than I expected for the event. Not a big surprise, but Facebook and Twitter were also very active during the game time (although Twitter has reported that most of the activity was about the commercials and the halftime show and not the game!). There was a noticeable dip of about 33% in other forms of streaming video during the game (Netflix, YouTube, etc), as people stopped watching streaming movies and watched the game (although at Halftime YouTube spiked up). Other types of vide streaming picked up during the game, but dropped back to kickoff levels at the end of the game as even marginally interested parties checked in to see the exciting conclusion to the game. There was no real impact in Canada, and some spotty watching from around the world, but clearly this event was US-centric. Read more [+]
The Cloud” has been a hot topic in the technology space for some time now, with the term becoming so mainline that many companies are using it as a tagline in mainstream advertising (ala Microsoft with their “To the cloud!” campaign). With “The Cloud”, the thinking goes; I can just have my data readily available for access, regardless of my device, location, or access technology. I can always access my pictures (everyone certainly wants to see my pictures of my family vacation!), my documents or spreadsheets, check my balance in my checking account, and my contact database.
Great idea! But what if the cloud is not accessible? Or your access to the cloud is so bad that it might as well be offline?
The concept of the cloud is a great security blanket. It’s like never having to worry about leaving your keys locked in your car or forgetting your wallet when you need it the most. Read more [+]
As a follow-up to my blog on streaming video, I have been doing a lot of work with customers to understand the new world that network providers operate in. Both mobile and fixed networks are seeing a tremendous change in traffic patterns that reflect the new “normal” in how consumers utilize broadband connectivity. I have looked extensively at the reports generated by our customers on their network traffic (spanning Cable, DSL, FTTx, Mobile, and Higher Education networks), and have come to the conclusion that the new normal is dramatically different than the old normal.
The New Normal:
- Consumers have multiple active devices on their broadband connection.
- Home networks are multi-tasking, even if individual devices are not always multi-tasking.
- More consumers are dependent on information and activities occurring “in the cloud”
- Some applications are more important than others, even to consumers Read more [+]
There is a well-publicized metaphor called the Butterfly Effect that summarizes the effect of chaos theory by posing the idea that a butterfly’s wings can create tiny changes in the atmosphere that can cause a tornado somewhere in the world. Google recently introduced a feature called “Google Instant” for search optimization that may have the same type of effect on the Internet.
If you go to Google’s search page and begin to type in the search box, Google will take every letter that you type and return a full search result page as you type. For example, if you enter “t” in as the first letter, Google returns a page with the first entry as Target, and other associated Target web sites. Add a “w” as the second letter, and the search page result changes to Twitter, with a number of associated Twitter sites. Add another “il” and suddenly you are transported to the world of Twilight, Stephanie Meyer’s successful vampire love story. Interestingly enough, The Twilight search page has picture and video thumbnails and graphic returned, even though I have not even completed my search. Any letters that I add continue to suggest pages dynamically. Previously, Google would only suggest search terms (but not make an actual search) based on your browser or search history. Read more [+]
There has been a lot of talk in the DPI industry about location awareness, especially as it applies to mobile networks. Understanding where congestion is affecting your subscriber’s Quality of Experience (QoE) is a critical factor in keeping high value data subscribers happy and renewing their service. But what really is “location awareness”?
Short Definition: Location awareness is the knowledge that a specific subscriber (maybe with a specific service plan) has accessed your network by connecting to a specific cell tower (as shown below). Read more [+]