Communications apps such as Facebook, Skype, or WhatsApp are unnecessarily communicating with their network server when in idle state, wasting RAN resources (radio access network), according to results of a new lab test conducted by mobile Internet optimization and monetization solutions company, Flash Networks.
Flash Networks says that, while idle, these apps communicated with their server six times per hour (basically every ten minutes). By minimizing unnecessary communications, apps can establish 22.7 per cent fewer radio connections. For a carrier with 10 million subscribers, that could mean the reduction of 600 million unnecessary messages daily, Flash Networks estimates. That would allow the company to support 20 per cent more users without adding extra resources, said Flash Networks.
According to Flash Networks this discovery is important, as the IoT devices heading into the mainstream will force network operators to optimize their hardware to support new devices coming to the network.
