Mobile data consumption is one of the biggest problems that has been plaguing us since time immemorial and, despite the fact that telephone companies do everything possible to distribute dozens of gigabytes in their rates, it is true that there are applications that become real data consumers that tarnish the user experience. Thus, Telefónica and Meta have joined forces to reduce consumption in short videos and improve the efficiency of mobile networks.
You probably check your social networks regularly on your smartphone, but at the same time, you have noticed that by the middle of the month you have already used up a huge amount of mobile data. What is the reason for this?
Many applications contain so-called short videos, also known as Reels or Stories in the case of Instagram, which have recently become fashionable and are one of the formats that take up the most time for users. And the truth is that short videos on the Meta social network use a greater range of mobile data when playing, especially when they are at the highest resolution.
For this reason, Telefónica has addressed this dispute with Meta in order to resolve the excessive consumption of megabytes, in such a way that measures are already being implemented to deliver high-quality video experiences without compromising high data expenditure. This is how they are achieving it.
Telefónica and Meta’s experiments to reduce data consumption
Mobile data network traffic is increasingly likely to increase and Telefónica has decided to invest in the cause to optimize resources and put a limit on mobile data consumption. To do so, it has asked Meta to collaborate jointly on its initiative to adjust the quality of short videos based on network flow, the aim of which is to find video traffic efficiency that we can enjoy on social tools using Movistar’s 4G or 5G.
As the telecommunications multinational assures, some tests are already being carried out, and the tested configuration significantly reduced video traffic in real network conditions. At the same time, the possibility of exploring network status information through standard interfaces (API) with IETF (sconepro), a secure network communication system that transports data much more effectively, is also being studied. In this sense, the streaming playback bitrate is more stable and optimal, as is the case with Netflix, Disney +, Max or Amazon Prime Video.
In this way, operators will play an important role in adapting the connection speed so that video resolution is not affected, thereby reducing the data traffic that Instagram Reels and Stories can consume. Telefónica confirms that both companies will continue to collaborate closely to drive innovation, including the adoption of more recent video codecs.
Without a doubt, this hand-in-hand work represents a qualitative leap towards creating a more sustainable world in terms of network traffic and making the exchange of information much more fruitful.
