If only all cell-phone towers could look this good. The Montjuic Communication Tower in Spain. Also a functional sundial. Designed by Santiago Calatrava. (via Geoff Zeiss)
Since the emergence of smart phones and mobile devices such as tablets, sending data through the wireless spectrum has become an increasingly complex task. A wireless provider's designated chunk of spectrum must support data for phone calls, picture and video messages, and also must support user's surfing of the web and streaming data. As a result, some user's may have trouble getting through their calls at times due to overloaded carrier networks.
In an attempt to fix these problems and provide better service, wireless carriers have been trying to get a hold of a larger chunk of spectrum or speed up their networks. However, startup company Giiidget has been working towards compressing data in an attempt to free up carrier networks. According to the company, their method is capable of reducing data demands by a factor of 30. By compressing data, the mobile carriers would be able to speed up their networks and will avoid having to purchase new spectrum, which is very expensive and scarce.
Currently, the military has a large chunk of the spectrum reserved for its own use, 95MHz in the 1755 – 1850MHz band. Carriers have been trying to get the government to auction off this extra chunk of spectrum and the carriers have even agreed on sharing it, a solution carriers were unlikely to settle upon. George Schmitt, CEO of MB Technology Holdings, stated, “Demand could go up a 100 percent and there will still be plenty of capacity.” However, if Giiidget can successfully compress carrier's data, this chunk of spectrum is most likely going to remain strictly for military and government uses.
Giiidget's technology is still months away from being used. However, they have many reasons to be optimistic about it. For example, they have won “most disruptive startup” award at this year's Venutre Capital in the Rockies Winter conference (VCIR Winter 2013). In addition, they also have good connections, former CEO of US West Wireless, Peter Mannetti, is among the companies advisers. We will have to keep an eye out for Giiidget and see how their technology helps shape the future for our wireless carriers. It is the kind of innovative tech we all use, and never knew even existed.
C
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