Airvana Identifies 8X Network Load Multiplier Effect for Smartphones

Company's Research Quantifies Hidden Impact of Smartphone Use on Mobile Broadband Resources

Chelmsford, MA, October 14, 2009 - 

Airvana [1], Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRV), the company transforming the mobile experience, has identified a significant mobile network "load multiplier effect" caused by smartphone data traffic on the macro-cellular network.  Airvana engineers comparing data use profiles found that for a given volume of data transmitted, one smartphone typically generates eight times the network signaling load of a USB modem-equipped laptop. Although smartphones may only account for a minority percentage of all devices on operator networks today, they are always on, moving between cell sites and continually ‘polling' the network. As a result, smartphones are already responsible for the majority-two to three times as much as laptops-of the total signaling activity.

For operators already concerned by the volume of data traffic generated by laptop users, this signaling load multiplier effect from smartphones highlights the urgent need for improved and alternative mobile data processing and off-load strategies. The "surge in wireless data and looming spectrum crisis" happening across the industry was highlighted last week by the head of the FCC in the U.S., Janus Genachowski speaking at the CTIA show in San Diego. Mr. Genachowski identified a 10-fold gap in data demanded vs. spectrum available in the foreseeable future and went on to say, "the needed bandwidth must come from multiple places, including promising new technologies like smart antennas and femtocells."

Global annual shipments of smartphone handsets are projected to increase from nearly 200 million in 2009 to 450 million in 2013, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp. In the U.S., AT&T recently reported that smartphone penetration in their postpaid subscriber base has doubled to 36 percent and Verizon reported that 40 percent of their handsets sold in Q2 2009 were smartphones. Similarly in Western Europe, industry analyst IDC recently reported 25percent growth in sales of smartphones in Q2 2009 compared to Q2 2008. As smartphones also continue to grow in functionality and performance, coupled with growing acceptance of unlimited data plans, data usage on smartphones is poised to grow even faster than today's rates. Such rapid growth, combined with the load multiplier effect, highlights the real potential for significant strain on networks as the mobile broadband market moves from the portability of laptops to the true mobility of smartphones.

"Conventional wisdom has been that data traffic produced by laptops equipped with mobile broadband was the culprit when looking at the impact on the network," said David Nowicki, vice president, Marketing and Product Management, Airvana.  "The industry is just now beginning to understand the real impact of smartphones on network performance and we're finding that their effect is distinctly out of proportion to the amount of data they transmit and receive. It's now estimated that nearly 60 percent of all mobile data traffic originates indoors - one of the key reasons that operators are increasingly introducing femtocell strategies to offload traffic. That approach, together with our mobile broadband-optimized base station software and advanced, high performance radio network controllers, provides operators with options for mitigating the impact of the smartphone load multiplier."

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Notes to editors:
Background to Network Load Multiplier Effect research
Airvana has monitored the capacity load on macro-cellular mobile broadband infrastructure deployed widely around the world since 2003. Until recently, the focus of the analysis has been on the amount of data throughput generated on a network basis. However, over the past couple of years as smartphones have grown in popularity, it has become increasingly important to also closely monitor the explosion in signaling traffic to better design solutions to help resolve capacity bottlenecks. Signaling refers to the messaging "overhead" involved with initiating and terminating network connections, and maintaining connections as users move between cells.  Signaling typically contains relatively few "bits", but it can strain network resources due to the need for network elements such as base stations and radio network controllers to process a very large number of these short control messages. 

How is the 8x network load multiplier calculated? While a smartphone user downloads a fraction (typically 1/25th) of the data consumed by a laptop user, the signaling load produced by the smartphone user is much higher and in fact one third of the laptop user on average. In other words, while it takes 25 smart phones to equal the data throughput from one laptop, it only takes three smart phones to equal the signaling network impact of one laptop (25/3 ≈ 8x). And since there are many more smartphones than laptops on the typical network, smart phones now generate in aggregate the vast majority of signaling traffic. Several factors account for the signaling-intense nature of smartphone traffic, including (1) the nature of smartphone applications such as e-mail and other push-based applications to constantly poll the network for updates; (2) that smartphones are often mobile during sessions; and (3) that they are nearly always turned on with applications running, even when they are not being used.

About Airvana
Airvana helps operators transform the mobile experience for users worldwide.  The company's high-performance technology and products, from comprehensive 3G femtocell solutions based on its HubBub^TM CDMA and UMTS femtocells, to core mobile broadband network infrastructure, enable operators to deliver compelling broadband services to mobile subscribers, wherever they are.  Airvana's products are deployed in 70 commercial networks on six continents.  The company is headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass., USA, with offices worldwide.  For more information, please visit www.airvana.com [2].

Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Airvana constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements typically contain the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "continue" and similar expressions.  Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including without limitation the highly competitive and rapidly evolving market in which Airvana competes, Airvana's limited operating history, the fluctuation of its past operating results and its reliance on sales through Nortel for a significant portion of its revenues and product and service billings and other factors discussed in Airvana's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Airvana's views as of the date of this press release. Airvana anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change.  While Airvana may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Airvana's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Airvana Contact

Rob Morton
Davies Murphy Group
rmorton@daviesmurphy.com [3]
(781) 418-2460