Smartphone use makes cellular networks' collapse a real possibility

The first thing to go might be your smartphone's connection to YouTube, with videos becoming increasingly choppy and then one day just failing to download - says a report in Tuesday's Washington Post.

In your impatience, you decide to scout out the latest posts in the Twittersphere, except that, too, is temporarily down. Your e-mail is stalled, and even a simple text is now too arduous, as the world's phone networks come crashing down. In the following months, it's almost impossible to get a lasting connection, even for a voice call.

Welcome to 2013, and the first mobile meltdown.

Although this is the worst-case scenario, some kind of collapse in cellular networks in the near future is a real possibility. They are already showing signs of strain: Your phone may temporarily cut out in large crowds or at a sporting event or music gig, and if you live in New York, San Francisco or London, you may have found it increasingly difficult to make calls in your home city.

Data-gobbling smartphones are, of course, the source of the problem, as they overload networks with requests for Web pages, e-mail and video streaming 24/7. The rapid growth in the use of these devices is behind the dire predictions of a meltdown by 2013, Since many core services depend on wireless communication, the results could be devastating. The only solution, according to many experts, will be an overhaul of the way mobile communications are delivered.

You can read the full Washington Post article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2010/11/29/AR2010112904854.html

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