But, the big mobile news in 2014 was
around Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi continues to blanket
the world, with iPass estimating that the number of public hotspots will
increase almost 8-fold over the next four years to cover 1 out of every 20
people on the planet. And, Wi-Fi is
becoming more like the mobile cellular experience. The seamless authentication and experience
promised by Hotspot 2.0 is now available, with Time Warner and others
announcing last year that they would roll it out across their entire Wi-Fi
networks. And, we can now roam to other international Wi-Fi networks, like we
do on cellular, with Comcast and Liberty Global, and other providers,
announcing global roaming agreements. And,
2014 saw mobile operators beginning to embrace Wi-Fi in a big way. T-Mobile USA began shipping wireless routers to
provide five bars coverage at home by allowing customers to make calls over
Wi-Fi instead of the mobile network.
Of all the 2014 Wi-Fi activities,
perhaps the biggest event was Apple’s announcement that the new iPhone 6 would support
Wi-Fi calling (Voice over Wi-Fi). This technology
bombshell indicated that Wi-Fi had truly arrived and should now be considered a
true partner and complement to traditional cellular.
What does 2015, and beyond, have in
store for Wi-Fi and mobility? The following
are my ten predictions of what we have to look forward to:
1. Wi-Fi
will be “almost everywhere”
– While we may not find it on mountain tops, in remote locations or along
highways, Wi-Fi will be in most places where we spend our lives – homes,
schools, work, shopping malls, hospitals, sports facilities, etc.
2. Providing
Wi-Fi will be a “cost of doing business” – Like providing lighting and heating,
customers of retailers, restaurants, sports venues and all other customer-facing
organizations will expect Wi-Fi to “just be there”.
3. Consumers
will expect Wi-Fi to be free, or almost free – The bar has largely been set – with the
exception of some “expense account” venues like hotels, customers will expect
to have Wi-Fi included as part of the overall service.
4. Wi-Fi
will become an important part of indoor mobile coverage – As the mobile battle moves indoors, Wi-Fi
and Wi-Fi calling will be important ways for mobile operators to enhance their
indoor coverage.
5. Wi-Fi
will be a key access technology for Internet of Things enablement – Due to cost, coverage and bandwidth
challenges of mobile cellular, Wi-Fi will be the key connectivity technology
for home, business and public IoT deployments.
6.
Public Wi-Fi will get better – With growing customer demand and expectations,
public hot spots will need to upgrade their infrastructure to move beyond the
initial “trial” phase of many public deployments.
7. Service
Providers will be the major builders and operators of Wi-Fi networks – Given the growing complexity and
importance of their Wi-Fi networks, many business will want to outsource the
deployment and operations to a service provider as a managed service;
concurrently allowing SPs to expand their growing Wi-Fi networks.
8. Wi-Fi
wholesale and roaming agreements
– We will see more domestic and globally roaming agreements to create a
mobile-like experience. Wi-Fi network
operators will wholesale network capacity, and site locations for licensed
small cells, to mobile operators to help them to extend their networks.
9. New
Wi-Fi Max models
– Wi-Fi centric mobile offerings, with cellular fallback, will expand beyond
niche providers, such as Scratch Wireless and Republic, to more mainstream
landline and cable service providers as their core mobile offering.
10. “Next
Generation Wi-Fi Monetization”
– With public Wi-Fi becoming essentially free, businesses will look to new
monetization models, like advertising, data analytics and advanced location-based
services, to recover Wi-Fi network costs.
Read on Cisco.com
Read on Cisco.com
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