Beyond data offload: Gemalto’s advanced Wi-Fi services put new revenue streams within easy reach

Guest post by Jean-François Gros, Marketing & Business Development Director, Gemalto

Among consumers, Wi-Fi is perhaps most commonly associated with the simple pleasures of a few minutes free surfing on the train or alongside a coffee. For mobile network operators, however, the stakes are rather higher. With pressure to build capacity and coverage combining with a fiercely competitive marketplace, the inexorable spread of Wi-Fi offers a compelling route to enhanced customer experience, differentiation, and new revenue streams.

Whilst much attention has focussed on the 4G roll-out, Wi-Fi’s contribution to the connectivity eco-system has largely flown under the radar. But the figures speak for themselves.  It is widely reported that, by 2018, there will be one hotspot for every 20 people on the planet; by 2017, seven billion devices will be Wi-Fi enabled¹.

Carrier Strategies: The Impact of Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi)

This guest post was written by Arvind Rangarajan, Director, Vertical Solutions & Market Offers, Broadsoft

Arvind Rangarajan, Director, Vertical Solutions & Market Offers, Broadsoft

Carrier Challenges

The sheer number of Wi-Fi connected devices is growing at a phenomenal rate, and Wi-Fi is fast becoming the preferred method of connection – at least two thirds of consumers today prefer connecting over Wi-Fi as opposed to cellular, mostly due to cost and performance.

Mobile operators have been increasingly turning to Wi-Fi offloading as a cost-effective way to manage data capacity, and that trend continues. Many analysts are forecasting a steady annual increase in carrier hotspots to more than 7 million by the end of 2015. (Source: ABI Research)

However, data offload is just the tip of the iceberg. The real reason many carriers are out there securing hotspot locations and launching services is competition for new revenue opportunities, from both incumbents and “over-the-top” (OTT) players alike.

The Role of Wi-Fi in Mobile Networks: Interview with du’s Senior Director for Wireless Broadband, Terminals & Performance

Ayman Elnashar, Senior Director for Wireless Broadband, Terminals & Performance at du

The integrated service provider du has been selected as the Official Smart City Wi-Fi Provider in Dubai and has since been successfully expanding its Wi-Fi network to major landmarks in UAE, such as Dubai Tram ^[1] and Global Village ^[2], etc…

Ahead of the LTE MENA conference in Dubai, we spoke with Ayman Elnashar, Senior Director for Wireless Broadband, Terminals & Performance at du. Ayman will be discussing du Wireless Broadband plans in more detail at the show, but I wanted to find out how du subscribers are already getting a better service thanks to this innovation.

LTE Is Not the Answer – But Wi-Fi Might Be

Jim Machi, vice president of product management for Dialogic

By Jim Machi, vice president of product management for Dialogic, where he is responsible for driving the overall roadmap and product strategy.

Right now, LTE is in its heyday. Carriers are doing all they can to expand coverage and improve speeds, and those lucky enough to be using it probably experience great service. But as mobile data use increases, that honeymoon period will end as networks get clogged and overloaded.

As that happens, Wi-Fi networks will become an increasingly important way for carriers to improve coverage and capacity. This is opening new opportunities not only for pure-play Wi-Fi providers, but also for mobile network operators (MNOs) implementing complementary Wi-Fi networks as a means to expand coverage, decrease the cost per delivered bit and ease congestion on strained spectrum and backhaul resources.

MWC Day Two – Innovations on Show

Cloudy with a Chance of Cost Savings

The second day of MWC proved to be another full-on day of hall walking and meetings, and innovation was on show aplenty.

That’s certainly true of Israeli VAS company CallUp. This small operation has just 25 employees but sells its products to operators all around the world, from LATAM to India. Its CEO Aron Roth explained to me how its CanVAS product can bring the value back for operators into services such as SMS and voicemail, which for those that are focussing on LTE are products that no longer really revenue generators,  but still have to be offered. The answer is the cloud. CanVAS offers these things via a cloud-based system, thus stripping out the high OPEX costs that carriers would otherwise face for these low revenue generating services. Interestingly Callup itself hosts these offerings on AWS – Amazon’s cloud services. So it’s a cloud service, built on top of a cloud service, which is kinda cool.

Interview: VP Group Marketing North America, Orange: “marketing strategy and pricing parameters are vital to the success of 4G.”

Philippe Andres, VP Group Marketing North America, Orange

Philippe Andres, VP Group Marketing North America, Orange is speaking on the subject of “How Do LTE deployments alter the attitude towards Wi-Fi?”, in the Hetnets track on Day Two of the LTE North America conference, taking place on the 21st-22nd November 2013, in Dallas, Texas, USA. Ahead of the show we find out more about Orange’ is taking a lead in LTE and his thoughts on marketing and pricing.

How is Orange taking the lead in LTE around the world?

There are several examples. Starting with the UK, EE, our joint collaboration with Deutsche Telekom, was until this summer the only 4G LTE operator on the scene since it launched in October 2012. It has taken full advantage of this, and now has LTE market leadership, with more than 1.2 million 4GEE customers.

In September, Amena, Orange’s low cost brand in Spain, launched a new innovative 4G service and aims to cover 15 large cities by the end of 2013. In October, Mobistar, our Belgium subsidiary announced it was speeding up 4G deployment network and to make 15 cities accessible by the end of 2013 and to cover 40 cities more during the first quarter of 2014. Meanwhile, Orange Romania is the first carrier to offer 4G in the entire capital city Bucharest, and we also launched 4G LTE in Poland in the capital city Warsaw.

In addition, in France, we will have 40 per cent population coverage by the end of 2013 and we are the only carrier speeds to offer up to 150Mbps, and 70 per cent of our smartphone range is compatible with this. Finally we are regularly distinguished by the French regulator ARCEP for our network’s quality of service.

The LTE North America conference is taking place on the 21st-22nd November 2013, in Dallas, Texas, USA. Click here NOW to download a brochure for the event.

Interview: Senior Manager Antenna Solutions Group, AT&T: “Small cells offer operators a system that is potentially more cost effective than other solutions.”

Jim Parker, Senior Manager Antenna Solutions Group, AT&T

Jim Parker, Senior Manager Antenna Solutions Group, AT&T is speaking on the subject of, “Challenges of deploying high density venues: From DAS to 4G”, in the HetNets track on Day One of the The LTE North America conference is taking place on the 21st-22nd November 2013, in Dallas, Texas, USA. Ahead of the show we speak to him about the AT&T Antenna group and its focus for the next year.

What is the core function of the AT&T Antenna solutions group?

In order to provide our customers with the best mobile broadband experience, AT&T established the Antenna Solutions Group (ASG) in order to extend the capabilities of our macro network in large public venues. ASG deploys a wide range of technologies including: neutral-host Distributed Antenna System (DAS), small cells, and Wi-Fi. Neutral host DAS and small cells provide a coverage and capacity solution for cellular voice and data traffic. In venues where Wi-Fi is deployed, it is primarily a data-only solution that can be used to offload traffic from the macro network.

The LTE North America conference is taking place on the 21st-22nd November 2013, in Dallas, Texas, USA. Click here NOW to download a brochure for the event.

Managing the interaction between 2G, 3G and LTE within Heterogeneous Networks

Neil Coleman, director global marketing, Actix

This post is by Neil Coleman, director global marketing, Actix.

As networks become increasingly complex and demands from subscribers soar, mobile operators face common issues when they lack a reliable, consistent and accurate view of the network. 

Mobile data services are undergoing tremendous growth. As a result operators are busily knitting together a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) of access technologies from cellular towers, rooftop antennas, metrocells, femtocells, and Wi-Fi to Distributed Antenna Systems. This development is being driven by subscriber demand for consistent wireless broadband coverage and capacity, with the result that the mobile network is moving increasingly ‘closer’ to the consumer.

LTE offers a step change in mobile data performance, setting new expectations for customer experience. LTE will increase interaction with the network, increasing the demand for mobile multimedia services – online television, video streaming, social networking, and interactive gaming.

Considering the huge variations in performance, range and capacity between different access technologies and spectrum bands, operators will need to carefully control the interactions to provide a consistent subscriber experience. Simply put: customer experience in HetNets will be defined by the poorest network performance the subscriber typically receives during normal day to day usage.

If operators get this wrong, subscribers could experience catastrophic drop-offs when handed over from relatively under-utilised LTE networks to congested 3G/2G networks.  Similarly as subscribers leave Wi-Fi or small cell hotspots and re-join macro networks speed bumps will impact the always connected data experience new services rely on.

All of this requires operators to get the initial coverage mix right and ensure handovers and interactions occur at the right places at the right time. Critical to this is an understanding of how subscribers and data traffic flow across the network and the geography. This type of information can be obtained from systems that deliver increased network and subscriber intelligence. Software platforms such as ActixOne are designed to deliver real-time geo-located subscriber insights to drive everything from long term planning through to optimisation and SON.

This intelligence then enables the operator to shape and manage bandwidth to deliver the required quality of service, improving and optimising network efficiency so that the transition across the HetNet is a smooth, invisible and painless experience for the subscriber.