Mobile broadband: congestion is inevitable

Shown is a table listing the typical bandwidth requirements for various applications.

The table is taken from a recent report by Peter Rysavy of Rysavy Research, entitled Mobile Broadband Capacity Constraints And the Need for Optimization.

The report looks at the huge growth in mobile broadband services and the resulting congestion. The report includes a nice model showing how only a few intensive users can consume much of a cell's capacity. The report also discusses how operators must continue to add wireless capacity while being a lot smarter in the bandwidth consumed by applications.

To see a copy of the report, click here

Application	Recommended Bandwidth
Mobile voice call	6 kbps to 12 kbps
Text-based e-mail	10 to 20 kbps
Low-quality music stream	28 kbps
Medium-quality music stream	128 kbps
High-quality music stream	300 kbps
Video conferencing	384 kbps to 3 Mbps
Entry-level, high-speed Internet	1 Mbps
Minimum speed for responsive Web browsing	1 Mbps
Internet streaming video	1 to 2 Mbps
Telecommuting	1 to 5 Mbps
Gaming	1 to 10 Mbps
Enterprise applications	1 to 10 Mbps
Standard definition TV	2 Mbps
Distance learning	3 Mbps
Basic, high-speed Internet	5 Mbps
High-Definition TV	7.5 to 9 Mbps
Multimedia Web interaction	10 Mbps
Enhanced, high-speed Internet	10 to 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps emerging

Comments

[Pauline Rigby]

Is "high speed internet" an application? Web browsing is an application, HD TV is an application, the internet is a system of interconnected computers and servers - a physical thing. What applications will people run on "high-speed internet" is a question that is rarely answered well.

[Peter Rysavy]

The previous comment is correct: "high speed Internet" is not an application. I included internet speeds in that table in my report as a reference point for the other applications listed.