Based on application information received from a DPI device, a downstream device, such as a Radio Network Controller (RNC), optimally implements a dormancy timer policy for short-lived applications, such as email and MMS. In particular, the RNC may initially use a large value for the dormancy timer for these applications. When the RNC receives an indication of the end of the application from the DPI device, the RNC may terminate the connection, thereby immediately freeing up resources. Alternatively, should the DPI device fail to recognize the end of the application, the initial dormancy timer serves as a fail-safe, such that the radio network resources are still released for allocation to another device in the radio network.