At the same time, subscribers using high-bandwidth applications or streaming hours of video may be experiencing lower quality of service as a result of network constraints during peak periods. All this adds up to increased support calls and unhappy customers, not to mention frustrated CSRs.
So what can you do? Perhaps the first step is education. Subscribers need to understand how to properly “Wi-Fi” the home. You can even consider offering this as a new service for the technologically challenged. It’ll also be an opportunity to replace legacy gateway devices.
For bandwidth issues, you could leverage protocols such as IPDR and SNMP to gain a better view of network-wide and per-service bandwidth consumption, allowing you to plan network infrastructure upgrades to reduce congestion points.
The increase in mobile device usage is also an opportunity to forge new partnerships with mobile operators to create backhaul services for small cell deployments. These types of services are likely to grow and create new revenue streams in the future as the industry faces at-capacity LTE networks.
No matter what you do, you can be sure that your subscribers’ desire to be connected 24/7 is going to affect your business — it’s up to you to be proactive.