US mobile phone chipmaker
Qualcomm has called for measures to limit heavy data users as
wireless networks reach capacity.
US wireless network operators report that data usage has
increased 50 times in the past three years.
Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm chief executive told the 2009
CTIA wireless industry
conference in San Diego that traffic shaping is one way of solving
the problem, according to the
Financial Times.
Earlier this week,
Julius Genachowski, head of the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), warned of a looming crisis in the face of an
explosion in wireless data traffic.
Jacobs said mechanisms should be introduced to prevent heavy
users from hogging the available capacity to the detriment of other
users paying the same for the service.
The approach flies in the face of supporters of net neutrality
who say Internet providers should not block, speed up or slow down
web content based on its source, ownership or destination.
Google, a supporter of net neutrality, has recently been in the
firing line over its Google Voice IP telephony application.
US telecoms group AT&T has accused Google of benefiting from
an unfair competitive advantage by ducking FCC rules, but Google
says the rules apply to phone services not web applications.
Genachowski said the FCC is still considering measures to
preserve an open internet and although the FCC wants to avoid
heavy-handed legislation, mobile congestion issues need to be
addressed.