Futureproofing Network Infrastructure

How Vertex Innovations is Helping Tier 1 Service Providers Scale Their Networks to Meet the Surge in Data Consumption

The days of simple voice services are long gone. By the end of 2025, global mobile traffic is projected to exceed 200 exabytes, or 200 billion gigabytes, annually. According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), from 2017 to 2022, U.S. wireless data usage grew nearly 50% year-over-year. In 2022, this equated to nearly 64 million gigabytes of data exchanged via mobile traffic alone. As consumers increasingly shift from voice-only services to data-heavy applications like video streaming, gaming, IoT, and social media, consumers are using data at an unprecedented rate. Coupled with the growth of 5G, Tier 1 carriers are under immense pressure to adapt and scale their infrastructure to support increased consumer demands for data.

How is 5G impacting data consumption?

Data consumption has surged in recent years, due in part to the high speeds and low latency that 5G networks provide. Two of the largest wireless carriers in the U.S. reported that users on 5G networks consume up to 100 percent more data than those on 4G LTE networks. This means average mobile data usage surged to up to 20 GB per month in 2022, a figure that is likely much higher today.

How can wireless carriers adapt to increased data consumption requirements?

As the demand for data continues to grow, Tier 1 networks will need to scale their network infrastructure, particularly their backbone and backhaul transport networks, to support the increased data consumption of their users. Key strategies for growth include:

• Expanding 5G Rollout – Broadening 5G coverage and its associated infrastructure is critical to accommodate the growing demand for data. This includes expanding sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum to balance coverage with capacity.
• Network Densification – Increasing small cell deployment can alleviate capacity constraints in densely populated areas and can serve to offload data from larger, traditional cell towers.
• Edge Computing Data Centers – By processing data closer to users, edge computing can reduce network congestion, improve performance, and lower latency. Deploying edge servers closer to the network edge can help optimize data processing and reduce the need for long-distance data transmission to centralized data centers.
• Private 5G Networks – Enterprise customers are increasingly adopting private 5G networks to achieve higher security, reliability, and customized bandwidth. These private networks offload pressure from public infrastructure, enabling organizations to manage their own traffic more efficiently.
• Expanding Fiber Infrastructure – Increasing the capacity of fiber backhaul links is critical to ensuring that networks can handle the rapid growth associated with 5G, IoT traffic, and more.

How is Vertex helping clients future-proof their network infrastructure?

Vertex Innovations is partnering with Tier 1 networks to facilitate and manage the design, construction and implementation of next-generation transport solutions to meet the ever-growing need for data transmission. Through our services including network engineering, owner’s representation and project management, we help clients deploy diverse 100Gbps+ network topologies that support their future needs while maintaining budget and timeline expectations.