Originally published in Wireless Week on November 14, 2017 

Oracle expects LTE diameter signaling traffic to continue its rapid growth even as the wireless industry deploys 5G networks.

The Silicon Valley tech giant last week issued its sixth Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index, which suggested that the global embrace of smartphones and the Internet of Things shows no signs of slowing.

The technologies likely to impact diameter traffic included LTE broadcast, VoLTE, connected cars and more sophisticated data plans and apps. Analysts added that although diameter will not be the main signaling protocol of 5G, it would nonetheless play a significant role in next-generation networks.

“Diameter signaling controllers continue to be vital network elements, which help enable operators to secure their network borders and to efficiently and effectively route signaling traffic,” Exact Ventures analyst Greg Collins said in a statement. “As such, it is critical for CSPs to understand what’s driving traffic and where, enabling them to avoid signaling traffic issues that can cause network outages, thereby reducing customer satisfaction and increasing customer churn.”

The report estimated that LTE diameter signaling would generate 595 million messages per second by 2021. LTE Broadcast would produce 225 million MPS by 2021 — an average annual growth rate of 23 percent — while VoLTE is expected to generate 62 million MPS, a growth rate of 22 percent, by that year.

Connected cars, meanwhile, should produce 9.4 million MPS but will grow at a faster clip of 30 percent per year on average.

Developing markets in Asia and Eastern Africa are expected to generate the highest growth in LTE diameter signaling in coming years, but Oracle anticipates that the maturing North American market will climb at a slower average rate of 12 percent.