Now who doesn’t want to watch a HD movie on a mobile phone? Ok, so here is how it all works. When a mobile is a connected to a network, for data access, a pipe is created for the same in the network. The pipe gets fatter as you pay higher below in simple words.
Voice call is circuited switched. That is when you make a voice call direct connection is established between calling device and called device.
The connection is established unless either of the parties hang up. This, however, is not the case with data network. Data service is best effort service where there is no direct connection or one path established.
When GPRS was introduced, two new nodes were introduced in the network which are called as SGSN and GGSN. Typically these are very power full devices(routers) with lot of intelligence.
So when mobile connects to the network, an IP address is assigned to it and also a “PIPE” is created between the two nodes(SGSN & GGSN). All the data that is being accessed by that particular mobile flows in this particular pipe and users are charged for these pipes.
As thousands of mobiles connect to the network, thousands of pipes are created. Each pipe is clearly differentiated and is charged for the data that flows in it.
One important thing to note is that these pipes are at operators mercy, which means the pipes can be made fatter or thinner based on network conditions and charges. An operator doesn’t have much control over the radio network, but a lot can be done over these pipes. So if a mobile is consuming all the radio channels, operator can intelligently “thinner” the pipe, thus releasing the radio resources.
The control over pipes allows the operators to block and allow traffic. When 3G is fully functional, there is good chance that operators may block services like skype or google voice chat because it might reduce the revenue. People start using skype to make calls instead of voice calls? Well, atleast geeks would try it for the fun of it.
For next few years it will be pipes every where. Operators trying to make them intelligent and subscribers wishing for more.
More to come! Stay tuned.
Amit Sinsinwal March 11, 2011 at 3:16 pm
does this mean that operator will allow to build a pipe between the www and device depening on the plan you opt for … which means you pay more for a fatter & faster pipe
Mahmood Junaid July 31, 2010 at 4:45 pm
is there anyone over here using bsnl wimax and bsnl 3g… i need to know the speed customers get by it… i need to know which one is better…
addy July 30, 2010 at 11:52 pm
jab MTNL ka ye haal hai to aur companies kaise speed de paayeingi
addy July 30, 2010 at 11:49 pm
thnx for the information santosh…
rajiev July 30, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Download Speed: 856 kbps (107 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 262 kbps (32.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
mtnl delhi, 3g, time 18:47
rahul July 30, 2010 at 6:34 pm
I am geting 250 to 300 speed from 3g network bsnl with rs premium acount .speed also depend on site server
som July 30, 2010 at 6:10 pm
BSNL already started doing this.when i got the connection 6 months back,25mb data usage was bundled.the speed at that time was around 280-310kBps.now even after recharging with data packs i do not have speed beyond 90kBps and average is 50-60kBps.PSUs just could not utilise the benefits of first movers.they are losing it even before the entry of pvt operators.i wonder what will happen once they enter?
Deepak Rai July 30, 2010 at 5:29 pm
@Rudradeep Biswas
I think author points out skype to skype calls which are always free either between mobiles or mobile and pc. Hence if both parties have 3G with skype, skype calls would be free but both parties need to pay for Data Charges, which could be very high atleast initally.
Santosh July 30, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I wanted to refer to skype voice “chat” instead of call.
Jiten July 30, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Hey really nice information shared only on Telecom talk, Thanks Santosh Dornal. Awaiting for your next post with more details.
Rudradeep Biswas July 30, 2010 at 4:50 pm
“The control over pipes allows the operators to block and allow traffic. When 3G is fully functional, there is good chance that operators may block services like skype or google voice chat because it might reduce the revenue. People start using skype to make calls instead of voice calls? Well, atleast geeks would try it for the fun of it.”
Basically Indian users will use Skype for ISD calls only, within India call rate dropped so much that Skype charge is higher now! Even ISD call rate reduced to 1p/sec! But Google Talk may be used frequently as it comes free!
Micky July 30, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Good info.thanks