The rise in viewers watching TV and films as well as scrolling through social media is putting increasing strain on mobile networks, according to the Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF).
Aytac Biber, MC-IF board member and director of product at Qualcomm, cited industry forecasts predicting that video will account for 82 per cent of all mobile data traffic by 2025, an increase from 60 per cent in 2019.
“Consumers are not just watching anymore—they’re creating and sharing videos at an unprecedented rate,” Biber said. “With ever-increasing demand for more visual entertainment and communication, we are heading towards a serious network capacity challenge in the future if we don’t take preventive actions.”
One of the biggest pain points, said Biber, is last-mile congestion, aka the final stretch of data delivery from mobile networks to consumers’ devices. Studies indicate that 70 per cent of video buffering issues originate from last-mile congestion, rather than core infrastructure limitations. Urban areas, where network traffic is dense, and rural regions face particularly significant challenges.
Biber and MC-IF are advocating for broader adoption of the Versatile Video Coding (VVC) video compression standard.
“VVC is a game-changer,” Biber said. “It offers 30–50 per cent better compression efficiency than preceding HEVC standard, meaning users can stream the same quality video while using significantly less bandwidth.”
VVC enables seamless resolution switching in response to fluctuating network conditions, reducing buffering and playback stalls. It allows encoders to signal resolution changes at specific points so spatial resolution and quality could be prioritised for scenes where it counts.
The codec can split video frames into independent sections so a field of view in a panaromic video could be prioritised, and it optimises encoding text, graphics, and UI elements for mobile devices, improving readability and visual clarity.
“The reality is there are multiple factors at play when adopting new video standards such as addressable devices, IP licenses, etc,” added Biber. “That is why it is crucial that content providers, device and silicon manufacturers, and network operators are all aligned.”
Biber has encouraged technology leaders, mobile operators, and content platforms to join forces with MC-IF to discuss implementation strategies for VVC and future video standards.
“I invite industry stakeholders to reach out and have open discussions about how we can overcome these challenges together,” he said. “The mobile video experience is at a crossroads, and we must ensure we’re moving in the right direction.”
