In a data-centric world, about 90% of the traffic will flow from the network to the handset. Carriers are facing a data traffic jam if they cannot significantly increase the number of highway lanes that are dedicated to delivering traffic from the network to the devices.
As such, we initially thought the downlink spectrum may be 9x more valuable than the uplink spectrum. However, the downlink channel
has greater RF efficiency and could have more than twice the capacity of uplink. Hence, the ration of value may only be 3.5:1.
Exceptions to the asymmetrical flow of data traffic include venues, such as sporting events and concerts, but these bursts of upload demand could also be served by enterprise-grade WiFi.
A limited amount of downlink spectrum could limit a carrier?s ability to keep up with the demand for greater speeds and the opportunity to lower cost on a per bit basis.
