According to Aptillo Networks, its recent customer acquisition show that operators see the urgency to deploy Wi-Fi in ways that expand service areas quickly, lower operating costs and leverage non-traditional partnerships to generate new revenue and business opportunities. Aptilo Networks, the leading provider of carrier-class Wi-Fi service management and offloading solutions, has revealed several trends in the WiFi deployments, including the following:
Leveraging Third-Party Wi-Fi Footprint Through Wholesale Operator
A tier-1 European mobile operator selected the Aptilo Service Management Platform™ to enable carrier-class Wi-Fi services through a third-party network. The utilization of a third-party Wi-Fi footprint through a Wi-Fi wholesale operator lowers the barriers further for creating a carrier-class Wi-Fi service with a very fast time-to-market.
Wi-Fi Managed Service for Operators
The tier-1 Operator is also using the Aptilo Managed Service™, providing a high-availability architecture including geographic redundancy.
Cable Multi-System Operators (MSOs) Increasing Involvement in Wi-Fi
MSOs are leveraging Wi-Fi as a strategic asset to add new subscribers and reduce churn. MSOs are also starting to sell Wi-Fi network capacity to other operators, including mobile operators, for mobile data offloading.
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) Embrace Wi-Fi
A European MVNO is using Wi-Fi to complement 3G/4G network access to provide better indoor access, thanks to Aptilo’s carrier Wi-Fi solutions. The MVNO is using Aptilo’s mobile data offloading solution to compliment the 3G/4G mobile data traffic by adding Wi-Fi footprint through a third-party carrier Wi-Fi network. The MVNO will additionally build its own Wi-Fi footprint at specific locations.
B2B: Selling Wi-Fi to Other Businesses
Service providers are tapping business-to-business opportunities when developing Wi-Fi offerings by making their services attractive to venue owners. They tailor the service to the specific needs of different industry verticals, making businesses Wi-Fi partners rather than Wi-Fi customers. One example is a new Aptilo installation with a European hospitality solutions provider using Aptilo SMP to deliver a cloud-based hospitality Wi-Fi service to hundreds of hotels in its customer base.
“We’re seeing a significant increase in Managed Service, including cloud-based Wi-Fi deployments,” said Ward. “It allows the mobile network operator to offer carrier-class Wi-Fi without the investment in equipment, training and maintenance.” “B2B Wi-Fi services are a crucial component for monetization of Wi-Fi,” said Ward. “In addition, these services facilitate site acquisition for their Wi-Fi footprint, one of the major challenges facing operators that are used to renting space for their base stations. In the Wi-Fi business it is all about selling services to venue owners.”
Source - Aptilo
