One piece of news that stands out for me this week is network congestion from IOS8 downloads. This is, of course, the type of event that organisations could plan for. Do nothing and your network is stifled with an exceptional traffic-volume that can interfere with business-as-usual. Try to block them, and eager employees will use costly 3G/4G data-plans instead. As a Cisco employee, I am bound to point out that an intelligent network would use local cache to ease congestion. More importantly, a tip-top mobility strategy should allow businesses to prepare for such well publicised events.
This week we take a look at the key industry announcements along with the latest news:
- Driven by the iPhone 6 launch last week, EE is predicting an explosion in demand from the SME sector for larger screen ‘phablet’ devices. According to a recent poll more than a fifth of employees are planning on purchasing phablets for work purposes. A rise in business specific apps is also forecasted as a result of the increased use of large screen devices in the workplace.
- Virgin Atlantic has announced it will offer customers high-speed-in-flight internet, offering speeds of up to 70Mbps. The partnership with Gogo will equip Wi-Fi on all of Virgin Atlantic’s fleet, making it the first European airline to offer in-flight Wi-Fi which has previously only been available on domestic North American flights.
- Recent research by Ovum has revealed that the number of global LTE subscriptions has reached the quarter of billion milestone. The UK is leading the charge in Europe, with six million subscribers. Europe has seen 10 LTE launches over the last year, with the most recent launches being UK Broadband. In total, there are 96 LTE networks in service across Europe.
- Closer to home, Cisco and Telefonica have combined forces to establish an advanced testing platform to jointly explore the benefits of converged IP and optical networks. The partnership will allow both companies to capitalise on the improved efficiency and cost savings presented by the convergence of IP and optical networks.
Let us know your thoughts on this week’s mobility news roundup. Has the Apple announcement inspired you to buy a phablet, and how do you think it will impact your use of mobile technology in the workplace? What’s your experience of inflight Wi-Fi and do you see it being adopted further? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting me personally at @GrahamFranklin or Cisco at @CiscoUKI.
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