Expert Warns Of Smartphone Congestion

The head of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Hamadoun Toure, has warned that the recent proliferation of smartphones is causing congestion on the world’s mobile networks. A good example is the iPhone which consumes about five times more data when compared to the more traditional mobile phones/handsets thus straining mobile broadband capacity and potentially creating problems of network unavailability in so many places including developing countries which, according to the United Nations, claimed around 73% of the world’s mobile phone subscriptions.

Although 90% of the world is reported to have mobile coverage, the ITU states that only 98 countries have adequate or specific mobile broadband plans. With the total number of smartphones in use expected to rise, around the world, from 500million to 2 billion in 2015 and predictions that there will be around 1 billion worldwide mobile broadband subscriptions in the first quarter of this year, it is no surprise that the situation is providing cause for concern.

While the situation has not yet reached its peak, there are already reports from several users in developed and developing countries of network errors due to data usage and capacity issues. One can only hope that the respective networks will increase their mobile handling capacity or perhaps implement technology that can eventually handle the predicted traffic.

Talking Point

Do you agree with the notion that there are too many smartphones in the world today?