Today’s commercial stores will attest to one universal fact – a small Wi-Fi symbol at the entrance of their premises does influence the decisions of a whole lot of people. Mobile data users will agree that Wi-Fi has become so indispensable and even if they are on great cellular plans with excellent coverage and quality, they will still tune into Wi-Fi anytime, anywhere should the opportunity arise. And the reason for this is obvious. While cellular networks have grown in terms of bandwidth and speeds, rich mobile content has experienced an even bigger growth and at the same time, mobile devices have become so advanced, making this newer and richer content accessible in any place and on any screen.
These rich applications - the likes of Facebook and Youtube, and mobile gaming applications such as Game of War and Candy Crush Saga, or even Angry Birds are bandwidth hungry and therefore, heavy on data consumption. LTE and LTE-A may be sufficient for occasional viewing of short video clips and downloads of files, but continuous access to such rich applications that run over 2 or 3 hours can wipe out users’ entire monthly data quota in no time.
Mobile Gaming - Candy Crush Saga
The Hunger for Data
Rich mobile content, by its nature of being more engaging and entertaining and sometimes addictive, has resulted in patterns of mobile data usage that is characterized by longer hours of access, repeated access to the same source or application and common usage patterns across a large group of subscribers.
These patterns lead to an increasing dependence on Wi-Fi and with mobile devices’ easy offloading capabilities, what followed was the mushrooming of Wi-Fi hotspots, provided by Wi-Fi network providers as well as service providers, and new habits started to develop around this newfound Wi-Fi culture.
Users were delaying the viewing of a video ad until they entered a WiFi zone. Choice of restaurants was based on availability of WiFi and the first thing customers ordered from the waiter was the password for WiFi log-in. Meetings and presentations were moved to areas where WiFi is provided. Activities during family and corporate outings were creatively developed around Wi-Fi connectivity, and the list goes on. Wi-Fi has since become an extension of the mobile ecosystem, a shift from its earlier positioning as an alternative to in-building wired connectivity and is now a mobile offering in its own right.
Wi-Fi in Starbucks
The Dawn of Wi-Fi Calling
While Operators are working out more comprehensive strategies to monetize Wi-Fi, this year, a newer and more powerful proposition presented itself in the Wi-Fi space, that is Wi-Fi Calling. The market, in the last 12 months, is abuzz about discussions about WiFi Calling and how this will result in a major shake-up in the traditional voice business.
Paul Mikkelsen,
CEO, Aptilo Networks
In the run-up to the upcoming CTIA in Las Vegas, The Fast Mode’s Tara Neal and Prushothma Rao reached out to Paul Mikkelsen, CEO of Aptilo Networks, a leading provider of Wi-Fi solutions that has over the last 15 years powered hundreds of Wi-Fi service providers across the world, on how Wi-Fi Calling and other emerging trends in the Wi-Fi space are significantly changing the landscape of this market.
WiFi Calling, says Paul, heralds the third wave of WiFi, creating perhaps one of the strongest use cases for the technology since its inception. The service works on the Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) technology that enables users to use their smartphone’s dialler to make calls on WiFi connectivity. It offers seamless integration with VoLTE, enabling automatic switch-over between both technologies such that a call can continue in both Wi-Fi and none-Wi-Fi zone.
In recapping the path taken by Wi-Fi over the last one and a half decade, Paul detailed out how WiFi took off in early 2000 as means of wirelessly connecting laptops to the Internet. It was positioned as a complementary technology to 2G and later 3G and was offered by service providers mainly as an enterprise solution. The turning point for Wi-Fi and the onset of the second wave, said Paul, took place with the debut of Apple iPhones that came with built-in Wi-Fi modules which saw the technology’s meteoric rise in the mobile space with mobile phone users tuning into Wi-Fi to continue accessing the Internet via their mobile devices. This major shift saw WiFi offloading becoming an important feature across mobile data services and mobile devices, leading to the rise of today’s heterogeneous networks.
What Happens When More Data Gets Offloaded?
Paul highlighted that while at present 70-80% of mobile data is offloaded via Wi-Fi, the figure can climb to 85-90% over the years to come, which presents a growing concern for Mobile Operators who have been investing heavily in 4G and 4G LTE to beef up capacity on cellular. The trend is afflicting not only Mobile Operators, but also other players such as cable operators who are losing customers to Over-the-Top applications that can be accessed over their mobile devices connected to Wi-Fi. As more and more data gets offloaded to Wi-Fi, and demand keeps growing for continuous access to data, these players are expected to respond by seeking means to offer Wi-Fi as a core offering within their suite of services, creating more expansive bundles that encompass fixed (or cable), Wi-Fi and mobile services.
Incremental Investment
Against this backdrop, the emergence of Wi-Fi Calling is expected to catalyze the deployment of Wi-Fi by Mobile Operators in major ways, said Paul. VoWiFi which powers Wi-Fi Calling requires the IMS, an architecture that is core to LTE and VoLTE services, and which more than 300 Mobile Operators have either deployed or planning on deploying. As Wi-Fi Calling can be launched leveraging the same architecture with incremental investment, these Operators are expected to seize the opportunity to launch the service and at the same time, consolidate their other Wi-Fi offerings.
MNO Strategy for Wi-Fi Services: Model 1
Toward this end, Paul sees a couple of strategies that will enable Mobile Operators to leverage the technology to complement their services and augment their revenues. For Mobile Operators who have already invested in their Wi-Fi networks, by bundling WiFi with their cellular plans, subscribers’ service experience and satisfaction will be greatly enhanced as subscribers will no longer feel constrained by the quota enforced on their cellular connectivity and are highly likely to start attributing all the data consumed on Wi-Fi and all the experience enjoyed on bigger bandwidth to their Mobile Operators. Citing Telia of Sweden, Paul said that subscribers’ service experience rose significantly after subscribers realized that the company’s tens of thousands of Hotpots have been enabling them to continue accessing the Internet on their devices even after their mobile data quota has been depleted.
MNO Strategy for Wi-Fi Services: Model 2
For Mobile Operators who have yet to build their WiFi networks, one of the most effective ways to acquire a share in the growing Wi-Fi market is to buy into existing networks, either from third party aggregators such as iPass or Bongo, or venue-based WiFi network providers such as hotels, airports, train stations etc. Hutchison, the Hong-Kong based Mobile Operator has implemented this strategy, offering bundles that include Wi-Fi access without actually owning a network. The Operator has since launched its own Wi-Fi calling service, added Paul.
Apple iPad on Inflight Wi-Fi Connectivity
In responding on the development of Hotspot 2.0, Paul expects the eventual implementation of the technology to offer a truly seamless offloading experience for mobile subscribers and bring the kind of intelligence that enables devices not only to offload automatically, but to assess and select in real-time the best Wi-Fi network based on information such as rating and security.
Wi-Fi and Analytics
Another emerging area in Wi-Fi – analytics, said Paul, is set to provide a great value add to those offering Wi-Fi services, for example, venues owners and enterprise clients. With the right solutions in place, Wi-Fi offloading not just seamlessly moves users in and out of the Wi-Fi network, but also collects, analyzes and reports various insights gathered from a wide range of parameters such as visitor traffic, visitor navigation, device preferences, transaction patterns and content consumption trends. These insights will enable clients to better understand their customer needs and help in their business decisions.
In summary, Wi-Fi’s role in the telecommunications ecosystem continues to evolve. For Aptilo Networks which has dedicated more than 15 years perfecting its solution offerings in WiFi, all the emerging trends point to infinite opportunities for every player in the ecosystem as mobile content continues to proliferate, traffic continues to escalate, devices continue to become more powerful and consumers continue to seek better service experience. Wi-Fi’s best times seem to have just begun.
