Internet optimisation vendor Flash Networks has launched a new product which it claims has resulted in 30 percent faster upload speeds when using messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Snapchat.
The vendor said its TCP-4TE product optimises LTE bandwidth use by using congestion detection algorithms to change transmission rates according to real-time network conditions. It added that the product reduces inefficiencies in the standard TCP stack, which makes it easier to data to move across the network.
Operators are contending with booming data rates, with OTT apps taking over traditional SMS services in terms of popularity. In April, WhatsApp handled 64 billion messages across a day, including 20 billion uploads, double its traffic from the same period in 2013.
According to figures from Sandvine, Snapchat users send 700 million messages daily and it handles more traffic than any other third-party messaging app in North America.
Noam Green, Vice-President of Marketing at Flash Networks, commented: “Unlike with traditional content consumption, where content is consumed mainly by downloading it from a central server, content-sharing applications require both upload and download to be accelerated to ensure subscriber satisfaction and improve customer retention.”
Analysys Mason said OTT volumes are set to double by the end of 2014, with more than half of smartphone users worldwide actively using these services. Messages sent over IP exceeded traditional SMS volumes for the first time last year, with an expected boom in smartphone users set to increase these services’ popularity. By 2018, the researchers predicted there will be 37.8 trillion OTT messages sent.