Does your cellphone or other mobile device work the way you want? Overloaded networks can cause problems for your cellphone.

But researchers at Alcatel-Lucent in Ottawa have developed technology to change that.

CTV Ottawa was given exclusive access to the Ottawa labs and talked to the key strategist for this new, breakthrough technology.

These days it's all about mobile devices. In the next few years traffic on the devices is expected to increase 10 to 30 fold.

In some parts of the world, network capacities have already been reached. Carriers just can't put in any more of the current style of antennas and all the necessary gear to make them work.

Last month, Alcatel-Lucent rolled out what it calls LightRadio. At the heart of it is a small cube, slightly smaller than a Rubik's cube that is jammed with technology.

The president of Alcatel-Lucent's wireless division says the cube and one other even smaller box will replace older technology.

"(They) can replace an entire three-metre tall rack of equipment and the large antennas that sit atop buildings to pick up signals," said Wim Sweldens.

Alcatel-Lucent's new product is a hot topic among the carriers who run the networks. It promises to handle 30 per cent more traffic at half the current cost.

Right now, there are only half a dozen working cubes in the world. One of them had been shipped to Ottawa for the day. CTV was there to talk to the man behind this whole LightRadio strategy.

"This will enable consumers to both continue and increase the things they can do with the new generations of mobile devices," said Jonathan Segel, who is based here in Ottawa.

This entire multi-million dollar project is one of the biggest projects Alcatel-Lucent has ever undertaken. It involves labs around the world.

Ottawa researchers were taking the lead in many parts of the project, which reflects the CEO's views from a year ago when he told CTV that Ottawa is one of the keys to the new directions the company wants to take as communications networks change.

"It's always fun to push the envelope, it's a lot of work and you learn a lot, but its fun, no question about that," said Jeff Carman, a product manager in the wireless division in Ottawa.

Potential customers are already lining up for field testing of the new gear this year. Segel predicts consumer mobile traffic data will be moving on the equipment by next year.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Paul Brent