Mobile providers are additionally upgrading current 4th
generation cellular networks. Both of these efforts will
support higher speeds, some up to a gigabit per second.
As capacity on mobile networks increases, they will
support streaming video and, in some cases, broadband
links to residential subscribers’ homes.
Because of the greater capacity in mobile networks,
many young people and students depend wholly on
mobile networks for messaging, streaming, and social
network access. Teens and twenty-somethings for the
most part use Snapchat and Instagram (part of
Facebook) social networks rather than Facebook and
Twitter. Snapchat is newer, launched in 2011, and
appeals to young people for its more visual service where
users upload videos and photos, rather than biographies
and other written material as on Facebook and other
social networks.
Streaming services were first envisioned by Reed
Hastings, the CEO and founder of Netflix. Netflix initially
mailed DVDs to subscribers in iconic red envelops and
stated at the time that Netflix would stream TV shows
and movies when Wi-Fi became robust enough to
support video traffic. Netflix is a disruptive service that
changed user behavior and disrupted traditional sales of
DVDs and movie theaters. Streaming caused
Blockbuster, the largest seller of DVDs, which had
outlets on every corner, to go out of business and movie
theaters had to close many of their theaters due to fewer
people going to movies. Netflix is now an international
business with service in nearly 200 countries.