With the launch of mobile networks, the world has changed towards online. The requirements for channels and data rates are getting higher. 5G should help, but it is planned to be introduced no earlier than 2024. Let’s talk about what’s happening right now
The number of users and the volume of information consumption are growing, the content is getting heavier, but the network capacity is not changing. This led to the fact that in 2021 the average mobile Internet speed in our country decreased for the first time in a decade. According to a study by Telecom Daily, it amounted to 21,7 Mb / s, which is 3 Mb / s less than in 2020.
Such speeds are enough for most users – it is comfortable to visit sites with them, communicate in social networks and upload photos and videos. However, some subscribers – for example, who care about high-quality video streaming – need even higher rates.
Dmitry Rudskikh, director of b2c product development at MegaFon:
“Each transition from generation to generation of the network allows you to “accelerate” the speed of the mobile Internet. Now the average download speed in the MegaFon network is 32,92 Mbps, and this is the fastest mobile Internet in our country: this is confirmed by Ookla research. But fourth-generation networks also have their limits, which we are gradually approaching. One of the main reasons lies in the “heaviness” of the transmitted content – for example, the video goes from HD to FULL HD and 4K.”
How operators change tariffs
To ensure the correct and predictable load on the network, telecom operators around the world are trying to create the most suitable tariffs for the subscriber. Segmentation can take place according to different parameters.
- Traffic separation. For example, the operator determines the quota for consumption in 4G networks, and when it increases, switches the subscriber to 3G.
- Device consumption limit. If the subscriber wants to “distribute the Internet” to other devices, it will be possible either for a fee or at a reduced speed.
- Content Type Restriction. The operator offers a tariff at which, for example, video can only be watched in 480p quality.
- Internet speed differentiation. The “older” the tariff, the higher the speed of the Internet. Such an approach, for example, is actively used by the operator Telia Sonera, which occupies a leading position in the markets of Sweden and Finland, as well as the American operator T-Mobile.
In our country, MegaFon was the first among operators to offer a tariffication scheme based on Internet speed: this is the first case of using tariffication in the country not only in terms of content – the volume of minutes, SMS and gigabytes included in the tariff – but also in terms of mobile Internet speed.
So, connecting the pre-5G option allows you to increase the Internet speed by another 30% on average and accelerate data transfer beyond 40 Mbps.
As Rudskikh notes, the approach in which billing occurs by speed allows, on the one hand, to offer tariffs at an affordable price to those subscribers who do not need high speeds and large volumes of traffic, and on the other hand, to distribute unclaimed capacities and provide high speeds to subscribers with high data consumption.
The option is available free of charge on MegaFon tariff plans, where users are more likely to connect to streaming services and consume “heavy” content (“Maximum”, VIP and “Premium”), and subscribers of other tariffs of the “No Overpayments” line can connect pre-5G for ₽399 per month.
How the pre-5G option works
To understand the technical intricacies, two fundamental problems in mobile communications should be mentioned – interference and multi-user access, when, for example, tens of thousands of fans in a stadium simultaneously use the Internet immediately after a goal. To reduce the negative impact of these factors, MegaFon uses the following technologies in the operation of the pre-5G option.
- SON (Self-Organizing Network, self-organizing network). This is a system that allows you to automatically change the parameters of base stations, for example, power or antenna tilt angles. As a result, there are fewer unnecessary connections that clog the air, the bandwidth is greater, and the load in the network is evenly distributed.
- DRX (Discontinuous Reception). The device and the network, as it were, “agree” on the phases in which data is transmitted, and the rest of the time they are silent, without creating unnecessary interference. The technology itself is several decades old, but its improved algorithms are used in pre-5G.
- RCAF (RAN Congestion Awareness Function, Radio Access Network Congestion Awareness Function). This is a dynamic load balancing technology that allows all connected subscribers to receive optimal communication quality. The operator can carry out this balancing at the expense of additional network capacity.
- VoLTE and VoWiFi are technologies for transmitting voice in compact data packets over LTE or Wi-Fi networks. The bottom line is that these technologies free up bandwidth for Internet traffic. In the summer of 2021, MegaFon was the first in our country to launch the technology at the federal level, and now more than half of the voice traffic in the company’s network is VoLTE.
In addition, MegaFon has a large frequency resource. Thanks to this, it can connect more subscribers to the network at the same time and better balance the load compared to competitors.
The company expects that about 20% of all existing and new customers of the No Overpayments tariff line will switch to the new option.