8. Compression

No matter what frequencies are used to carry mobile data, less traffic means less spectrum is needed. Data compression is a time-honored way of cutting files down, but it has its limits as a solution to the wireless crunch, according to Rajat Roy, a senior product line manager at Broadcom. To start with, the biggest files, such as video, audio and images, are already compressed using standard protocols such as JPEG and MPEG. For other types of files, the industry is still trying to settle on a common standard so mobile devices will have the software to decompress what's been compressed in the network.

However, Broadcom has targeted one type of traffic that doesn't make for huge files but is often inefficient. The company builds technology into its wireless base-station chips that can compress the header fields of VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) packets. Though voice doesn't take up much bandwidth, the packet headers containing routing and other information are sometimes twice the size of the payload itself, Roy said. Compressing the headers reduces the load on the network.

9. Caching

There are at least two ways in which caching could help reduce the need for spectrum. One is time-shifting traffic to reduce peak demand. The growing amount of storage capacity on devices and in removable flash cards could allow users to download large files such as video automatically during off hours, said Tolaga Research analyst Phil Marshall. Users who signed up to have that content sent could then watch it later on the device. Security and digital rights management are possible barriers to adopting this technique, Marshall said.