Observations from Mobile World Congress 2015

I have just returned from a very interesting and jammed-packed week at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona.  A record 93,000 plus people are estimated to have attended this year’s premier technology festival.  Much has changed in the industry over the last year since I reported my observations of MWC 2014.  However, what is most remarkable is how the boundaries of mobility continue to expand and morph – everything now seems to be mobile?  As such, the show offers a fascinating glimpse into the future of technology and the major social and business shifts that we can expect in the next few years.
The following are my personal observations and extrapolations from the show, based on my conversations with operators, customer meetings, analysts, and colleagues, as well as from simply walking the show floor.

1. 5G – The Next New Technology — What is a technology show without a shiny new technology? Despite the fact that less than 5 per cent of global subscribers have adopted the previous new technology (4G), and over half of mobile users are still back on the second generation (2G) technology, we are now entering the fifth generation of mobile technology – 5G. The remarkable thing though is that no one really knows what 5G is. There are no technical standards or industry agreements on the definition of 5G. However, every major vendor is now “5G ready” and promoting their 5G solutions. And mobile operators like KT and SKT in South Korea are aggressively promoting their pending 5G deployments.
2. IoT – The Year’s Hottest Three Letter Acronym — These 3 letters – standing for the “Internet of Things” – were everywhere. They were on the signs of practically every booth and on the tip of everyone’s tongue. No doubt, the ability to connect sensors, devices and “things” to the Internet is the next wave of mobile growth and presents tremendous opportunities for technology vendors to sell new products and services. A number of key partnerships were announced and some very interesting and compelling industrial IoT case studies were promoted. The mobile operators shouted out their relevance in IoT by displaying their platforms, capabilities and lighthouse customer engagements.
3. Smart Phone Wars – Samsung won the unofficial market launch of the show with its slickly executed unveiling of the new S6. This stunning new device is Samsung’s attempt to get back into the game – trying to recover some of the ground lost to the new iPhone 6 and to firmly establish itself as the Android leader. While many other manufacturers launched new smartphones, Samsung was by far the most talked about brand at MWC. In the continuing saga of the smart phone wars, it looks like we might be back to a 2 player game again for a while?
4. Building the New Mobile — For those of you who follow me, you will know that I have long been a proponent of a “Wi-Fi Max-Mobile Min” strategy to create a new mobile service.   With the near ubiquity of Wi-Fi enabled devices, Wi-Fi access in homes and offices and the growth of public Wi-Fi, there is an opportunity to create a new type of mobile service running largely over Wi-Fi. While there have been a number of smaller, niche players (e.g., Republic Wireless, Scratch), it wasn’t until Google announced that they were getting into the game that it started to get serious. Sundar Pichai of Google gave an unsettling (at least for the traditional MNOs) keynote describing how Google’s MVNO would be primarily based on Wi-Fi, and when that was absent it would select the best, and cheapest, cellular coverage from a number of the big mobile providers.
5. The Connected Car Show — At times you could be forgiven for thinking that you had wandered into the auto show in Geneva or Detroit instead of MWC. There were cars everywhere. The industry sees these as “smart phones on wheels.’ Operators, such as AT&T were crowing about their big deal to connect all new Audis. Auto manufactures, such as Ford, were demonstrating the cool things that you could do with their connected cars. And for some reason, even exhibitors like Visa had cars at their booths. These were not just any cars – they were Porches, Audis, Mercedes, Maserati’s and every other high-end auto you can imagine.   Fancy cars are now the standard “eye candy” at big technology shows.
6. Virtual Reality — Samsung demonstrated a very cool technology for adapting one of their Galaxy Note 4’s or the new S6 into a virtual reality device. Not only does VR make games incredibly cool, but it has lots of applications to industry, enhancing solutions and business processes. HTC is working on a similar VR adaptor for its mobile devices. Several exhibitors were also using virtual reality devices to enhance the impact of their messaging. As virtual reality becomes integrated with cost-effective, and near ubiquitous smart phones, we can expect it to have a big impact on re-shaping many businesses – far beyond the gaming world.
7. Virtualization Reality — Virtualization and the cloud have finally hit the core mobile network elements. Not only will this make it less expensive for operators to build networks, but will provide them with much greater flexibility and responsiveness and allow the network to extend well beyond the boundaries of the traditional mobile network.   This is the year that the promise finally started to become a reality. Mobile operators, such as Telefonica, China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo, announced fully operational NFV (Network Functions Virtualization) deployments. AT&T reiterated its desire to move 75 percent of its network to a cloud architecture by 2020.
8. Making Wearables Wearable — There were 53 wearable devices on display at the show – 10 of which had their own SIMs to connect directly to the mobile network. The majority of these were smart watches and fitness trackers. The challenge, however, seems to be getting people besides device geeks to wear these. Huawei made a very interesting debut in this category with a high-end watch with a round-faced classic design. It looked like something that even James Bond might wear. And, although Apple was nowhere to be seen, rumors (and subsequent launch) of its new Apple Watch presented additional hope that wearables might in fact become wearable.
9. Mobile Monetization – An Industry on the Edge — At one time, service providers were the kings of the show. They are now just one of the participants in the massive and rapidly changing mobile industry. The decline in voice traffic, loss of messaging and competition to their data business from over the top providers and alternative access networks such as Wi-Fi, means that they desperately need to find new ways to make money. Most of the world’s major mobile operators now have their own large and prominently placed booths on the show floor. They are proudly displaying the latest business solutions, cloud services, gaming, IoT and other innovative mobile offerings that they have to sell. They are hoping that these new revenue-generating opportunities will move them beyond merely connectivity providers and deliver the next wave of monetization opportunities.
10. The Battle for the Great Indoors — Changes in devices, applications and social behavior are re-defining mobility from an on-the-go activity to a more nomadic activity, which takes place largely indoors. Traditional macro networks have a tough time penetrating buildings and reaching indoors. Hence operators are struggling to provide 5 bar coverage in homes, offices and public spaces. Traditional mobile technology vendors are now showcasing their small cell, Wi-Fi and DAS solutions as the answer to this challenge of lighting up the indoors. At one time, these solutions were relegated to the back corner, but they are increasingly becoming center stage as a solution to this new and growing problem. Not to mention, they offer an attractive new revenue opportunity for traditional macro network vendors.
11. Selfie Journalism – TV Production in the Palm of Your Hand – It was truly amazing to watch journalists reporting on the show holding their smartphones at arms-length in one hand and an attached professional-grade microphone in the other. In the past crews of cameramen and soundmen would have been needed to produce professional quality reporting from remote locations. The mobile revolution has created “selfie-journalism”, replacing these crews with one reporter, a smartphone and some clever software. The BBC did an interesting story on how they filmed, edited and produced their coverage of MWC entirely on mobile devices.
12. Mobile Payments – This May Be The Year? — The last point that I always seem to make on these reviews of MWC is on mobile payments. Once again, mobile payment solutions from banks, credit-card companies, MNOs and other providers were all competing to create a wallet-less world. However, unlike the promises of past shows, this may be the year that mobile payments finally take-off. With the launch of Apple Pay earlier this year and the big announcement that Samsung’s new S6 would incorporate technology from their recent acquisition of Loop (making mobile phones work with any existing magnetic card reader) we may finally start to leave our wallets at home.

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10 Predictions for the Future of Wi-Fi and Mobility

The close of every year brings startling headlines that herald the continued meteoric rise of mobility.  This past year was no exception.  The 2014 announcement that there are now more mobile subscribers than inhabitants on the planet exemplified the mobile zeitgeist and its importance in our daily lives. 

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.

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New Smart City Opportunities for Service Providers

Tremendous new opportunities are being created for technology vendors and service providers as cities around the world look to build out smart cities to reduce municipal costs, tap new sources of revenue, and improve the overall quality of urban life. The previous blog (Smart Cities Are a $7.5 Billion Annual Opportunity for Technology Providers) described all of the essential requirements of the smart city architecture and quantified the great opportunities for technology vendors and partners to help to create and operate these digitally smart cities of the future.  The last question to address is what are the specific opportunities for SPs and where should they play to extract the most value from the deployment of smart cities?

The potential revenue opportunities available to SPs depend upon the strategic fit to their business.  Specifically, we evaluated the opportunities across three strategic fit criteria:

1.    Core Business – How closely is the solution or service aligned with the SP’s core business (e.g., using existing assets, leveraging current business operations and expertise, in regional footprint)

2.    Stretch – To what extent would new investments or operations be required to deliver the solution or service (e.g., Capex for new assets, creation of new business operations, acquisition of new expertise, out of region play)

3.    Deal Dependent – To what extent would the nature of the deal and the governance structure influence the potential revenues available? (e.g., vendor or lead, city investment or PPP)

Assessing the smart city revenue opportunities across these criteria reveals a number of strategic options for how SPs can think about approaching the smart city opportunity:

·         Core Business – essential part of the existing SP business – Network Connection

·         Closely Aligned – typically some of these are part of the existing SP business, or not very far removed from existing capabilities – Network Access; Technology Platform

·         New Area – new investments and capabilities would be required, but typically leveraging some existing capabilities – Operational Services; Smart City Solutions

·         Stretch – these are area that are not typically part of the existing SP business and would require considerable investment and new build – Program Management, Orchestration

·         Deal Dependent – these are the new sources of monetization (subscription, advertising, analytics, etc.); the realization of which will be dependent upon the deal structure – Monetization

Returning to our example of a smart city deployment for a city like Seattle in the USA (metropolitan population of 3 million), service providers could potentially generate new revenue across each of the strategic options as shown below.

For a typically medium size city deployment, like Seattle, a typical service provider could potentially generate at least $15M in new annual revenues from core or closely aligned businesses. Or, roughly one-half of the total smart city opportunity.  A global market opportunity of $3 to $4 billion of new annual revenues is readily within the grasp of SPs to help cities to deploy smart city initiatives.   And, that number could increase considerably if a service provider is willing to make investments in creating new capabilities and expertise. 

While there is a significant upside of new potential revenue, smart cities often have a broader strategic context for service providers.  As described in How SPs Can Profit from Digital Cities, there are additional benefits, beyond the direct revenue benefits, that SPs should also evaluate when assessing their involvement and options in smart cities.  Consideration of Ancillary Benefits (e.g., rights of way for network deployment on city assets; upsell to city, local businesses and consumers; customer retention) and Indirect Benefits (branding; PR/communications; customer experience; regulatory relief; government relations), together with the new sources of revenue, can create a very compelling business case for a SP’s active involvement in smart city opportunities.

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How To Make Money From Smart Cities

As cities around the world grow in size, we are beginning to see that strained resources, infrastructure, and services are causing natural limits to urban growth, which in turn limits the economic growth opportunity.  To combat this, cities as diverse as Barcelona, Nice, Kansas City and Songdo in South Korea, are starting to leverage advanced technologies and data analysis to create smart, connected cities.  These cities, and others around the globe, are building out new digital services such as smart lighting, traffic, waste management and data analytics to reduce costs, tap new sources of revenue, create new innovation business districts and improve the overall quality of urban life.

Not only will the creation of smart cities generate huge value for the cities and their inhabitants, but great opportunities will also exist for the vendors and partners who help to create and operate these digitally smart cities of the future.  However, the question is where and how can partners such as infrastructure providers, technology and services companies, and communication providers participate?  And, what types of revenues can they generate from helping to create smart cities?

Based on our extensive experience in creating and supporting smart cities around the world, Cisco has identified a number of essential ingredients required to deliver and run a successful smart city.  The Cisco Smart City Business Architecture categorizes a set of requirements in a number of different business layers, with each layer supporting the layer above and increasing the potential business return as we move up the stack. 

 

Starting from the bottom, the layers comprise:

 

1.    Network Connection – connecting all of the solutions, data and applications through fiber backhaul or licensed cellular.

2.    Network Access – a managed Wi-Fi, or other unlicensed wireless network, to connect all of the sensors and applications.

3.    Technology Platform – a platform to allow new devices and solutions to readily and securely “plug and play” into the overall architecture, and to connect to cloud storage and compute services.

4.    Smart City Solutions – the combination of devices and applications that deliver the specific solutions, such as smart lighting, parking and traffic management.

5.    Platform Monetization – opportunities to leverage the platform and network create new sources of revenue in areas such as advertising, data analytics and subscriptions

6.    Shared Operating Platform – a shared platform to consolidate the management, customer care and service issues across all of the solutions.

7.    Professional Services – services to support areas such as systems integration, planning and design.

8.    Program Leadership – services to program manage the entire implementation, operations and partner ecosystem of the smart city initiative.

Cities will need vendors and partners to provide solutions and services in each of the different layers of the business architecture to make their smart city initiatives a success.  Future blogs will explore how much revenue is available in each of the layers of the business architecture and how providers can best capture it.

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Understanding the Changing Mobile User: Gain Insights from Cisco’s Mobile Consumer Research

Video highlighting the results and interests of our mobile consumer research.

View here

Five Predictions for the Future of Wi-Fi and Mobile

New devices, changes in customer behaviors, and technological advances are rapidly changing the mobile market and consumers’ expectations of mobility.  A recent Cisco study of mobile consumers reveals how much, and how quickly the world of mobility is changing.  The survey uncovers some startling revelations about what consumers are doing on their mobile devices, how and where they are using them, and how they are connecting them to the Internet.  Highlights of the research are revealed in my recent blog Discover What Consumers Want from Wi-Fi and Mobile.
The majority of devices are now Wi-Fi-enabled, and the fastest-growing category is “nomadic” devices like tablets and eReaders.  We now need to speak of the “mobile home,” as the home is by far the most popular location for consumers to use their mobile devices. Surprisingly, Wi-Fi is the network connection of choice for most consumers for all of their devices.  Public Wi-Fi is now a big part of mobile life.

Consumers are generally satisfied with their public Wi-Fi experience, but they want it to be faster, more secure, better quality, and most of all, available in more places.  Consumers are anxious for enhanced personal mobile experiences that can be delivered by unlocking the inherent business value hidden in the Wi-Fi infrastructure.  

While it is never easy to foresee the future, we are making five predictions for key changes in the

mobile industry over the next two years based on insights from the Cisco mobile consumer research:

5 Predictions for the Future

1. Mobile devices will become even more home-based.

In the next two years, daily use of mobile devices in the home will equal the use of TVs (average 5 hours)

2. Wi-Fi will become the predominant access technology for smartphones.

Within the next two years:

Ø  Close to 100 percent of smartphones will use Wi-Fi.

Ø  Smartphone owners will use Wi-Fi at least 50 percent of the time to connect to the Internet.

3. Public Wi-Fi use will continue to grow.

Within the next two years:

Ø  Eighty percent of all mobile consumers will use public Wi-Fi.

Ø  Seventy-five percent of all public Wi-Fi users will use this technology at least weekly in some locations.

4. Public Wi-Fi will be used more often, in more places.

      In the next two years, 40 to 50 percent of all public Wi-Fi users will use Wi-Fi at least weekly in restaurants, coffee shops, retail and outdoor locations.

5. Public Wi-Fi will become mainstream for delivering mobile entertainment.

In the next two years:

Ø  Sixty percent of public Wi-Fi users will access social media

Ø  Forty percent of public Wi-Fi users will stream music or video.

 
Full results of the survey can be found at Discover What Consumers Want from Wi-Fi and Mobile

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Discover What Consumers Want from Wi-Fi and Mobile

Consumers have a true love of mobile devices, as evidenced by recent Cisco mobile consumer research.  Significant percentages of respondents reported using everything from laptops, smartphones, and tablets to eReaders and mobile gaming devices. Americans now own an average of three mobile devices each, up from 2.6 devices in the 2012 Cisco mobile consumer study.  Perhaps more significant, our findings show that the number of smartphone users has grown by 21 percent in just one year, now reaching 68 percent of the population, at the expense of basic phones. Most remarkable is that the number of tablet owners has expanded by over 90 percent in just one year, with close to four out of ten consumers possessing one of these new devices.

The insatiable demand for mobile devices and new applications that use large amounts of bandwidth is generating staggering volumes of mobile data. In parallel, the use of Wi-Fi for Internet access is exploding, as more mobile devices are Wi-Fi enabled, the number of public hotspots expands, and user acceptance grows. Most mobile operators now realize that offloading data traffic to Wi-Fi can, and must, play a significant role in helping them avoid clogged networks and unhappy customers. Many service providers are now constructing extensive networks of public Wi-Fi hotspots for use by their mobile or home broadband customers. The networks allow mobile offload and help enhance and differentiate their offerings. In addition, service providers are struggling to understand new business models for making money from Wi-Fi.  However, very little is currently known about how consumers are actually using public Wi-Fi and how they view the overall experience. Nor is there much information about mobile users’ appetite for these new services, their willingness to use them, or their privacy or security concerns surrounding these data-based services.

To learn more, Cisco conducted a survey of 620 U.S. mobile users to understand their needs and behaviors, use of devices, applications and mobile access technologies, and how they have changed since our 2012 mobile consumer study.

Top 10 Research Findings

 

1.    It’s all about the home.

2.    Wi-Fi is the connection of choice for all mobile users.

3.    LTE is a complement to Wi-Fi, not a substitute

4.    Public Wi-Fi is now a big part of the mobile life.

5.    Consumers are communicating and surfing at established hotspots.

6.    Public Wi-Fi needs to be faster, more secure, and in more locations.

7.    Users are generally satisfied with public Wi-Fi, but have concerns with some locations.

8.    Mobile users are interested in localized, personalized, and enhanced experiences when using Wi-Fi.

9.    Consumers are willing to surrender personal data for a better experience.  But they want control.

10.  Small cells provide an opportunity to improve mobile quality and coverage and reduce churn.

The complete results can be found at Discover What Consumers Want from Wi-Fi and Mobile.

Cisco mobile consumer research clearly demonstrates that consumers are using a greater number of mobile devices to do a greater number of things. As demand for mobile devices and network connectivity continues to grow, Wi-Fi, small cells, and traditional macro mobile networks will all be critical to meeting the needs of mobility-enabled consumers. Service providers are in the enviable position of being able to successfully integrate these networks and deliver new sources of value.

This white paper is part of a series presenting 2013 Cisco mobile consumer research findings.  Previous blogs and white papers have highlighted What Mobile Consumers Want from Public Wi-Fi, Understanding the Changing Mobile User and Unlocking Wi-Fi Enabled Value-Added Services.  

 

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Unlocking Wi-Fi Enabled Value-Added Services

Competing with the virtual, e-commerce world is becoming increasingly challenging for real-world businesses. Traditional retailers have long envied the massive amounts of valuable data that online retailers have available to help them better understand customer behavior and implement winning marketing tactics. Online retailers know valuable information such as how frequently customers return, how long they spend on their sites, what the customers looked at but didn’t buy, and where they went before and after coming to the site. Businesses as diverse as hotels, banks, stadiums, airports, and large public venues are all looking for ways to get similar detailed data on customer activities in their facilities, so they can improve the customer experience and their bottom lines. The data and insights have not been available to bricks-and-mortar facilities, until now.

That situation is changing through the growing availability of Wi-Fi in business locations. Many retailers, hotels, and other businesses are increasingly offering Wi-Fi as a service that allows their customers to connect mobile devices to the Internet. Hidden in this valuable service is a vast amount of information and insight, which retailers and others can use to deliver tangible value to their bottom lines. Hypersensitive location information, device details, identification of returning customers, and sophisticated path analysis are just some of the customer data captured by Wi-Fi networks. Businesses are now realizing that the data and capabilities offer new ways to improve the customer experience and support a range of market-leading monetization models.

For many businesses, these new location-based experiences and monetization models offer new ways to compete with e-commerce. However, very little is currently known about mobile users’ appetite for these new services, their willingness to use them, or their privacy and security concerns surrounding these data-based services.
To learn more, Cisco conducted a survey of 620 U.S. mobile users to understand their needs and behaviors, use of devices, applications and mobile access technologies, and how they have changed since our 2012 mobile consumer survey.

The study revealed that consumers are very interested in new localized services and solutions that are delivered directly to their mobile devices.  Our findings show that consumers would embrace such services to enhance their experiences in retail locations, airports other large public venues, such as stadiums or shopping malls.  In addition to access to free Wi-Fi, mobile users value the convenience and efficiency of the service, the ability to locate themselves in the venue, and being offered personalized deals or coupons.  However, they are concerned about security on their devices and the use of their personal data.   

We explored these personal data concerns in much more detail.  The good news is that consumers are willing to sacrifice some of their privacy and personal data to derive the value of these personalized services, but they want to be in control.  They want to control what data can be used, when and where, and by whom, and they want to control the experience.  Our research revealed that consumers have a “data sharing threshold”.  Beyond this threshold consumers do not feel that the value of the benefit justifies the value, or intimacy, of the personal data that they are being asked to give-up.

Wi-Fi value-added services allow businesses to compete on more equal terms with the data-driven world of e-commerce, and the financial returns more than justify the investment in Wi-Fi infrastructure. Best of all, as our study shows, consumers want these enhanced mobile experiences and the value that they offer.  Of course, consumers have privacy concerns, but these concerns are not insurmountable and incompatible with the new localized services if the insights from the research are incorporated into the design of these services.

The complete results can be found at Unlocking Wi-Fi Enabled Value-Added Services

This white paper is part of a series presenting 2013 Cisco mobile consumer research findings. Previous blogs and white papers have highlighted What Mobile Consumers Want from Public Wi-Fi and Understanding the Changing Mobile User.  

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The Next Generation of Wi-Fi Debuts in Beijing

I recently had the honor to speak at the Wi-Fi Global Congress in Beijing. As evident by the more than 400 people in attendance, the importance and relevance of Wi-Fi continues to grow.  The Wireless Broadband Alliance now has over 100 members, a doubling in less than 2 years.  The membership includes a mix of leading Wi-Fi, mobile, and broadband network operators; global service providers and media players; as well as technology providers and partners. 

I took away six key messages from this exciting conference:

1.    Next Generation Hotspots is Alive and Well.  One of the most exciting things at the conference was the launch of the live NGH Experience with China Mobile as the host operator and Cisco as the network infrastructure provider.  Attendees with a Samsung Galaxy or iPhone 5 could experience the first ever opportunity to seamlessly and automatically connect to the venue Wi-Fi.  Participants also received valuable conference information and services seamlessly delivered to their mobile device through NGH.  This is just the beginning.  With 15 major carriers (and growing) signed up to deploy NGH, mobile users throughout the world will be able to experience the next generation of Wi-Fi early in 2014.

2.    Wi-Fi Roaming is Becoming a Reality.  Several speakers described roaming as being where cellular roaming was 15 to 20 years ago.  However, with the successful launch and upcoming deployment of NGH, seamless roaming amongst carriers is now becoming a reality.  Indeed, the GSM Association recently approved a Wi-Fi Roaming Annex that will make it easy for mobile operators to support this.  As such, the WBA expects roaming to be fully automated across more than 80% of public Wi-Fi networks by 2018.

3.    Wi-Fi is an Important Part of the Mobile Network.  The world’ largest mobile operator, China Mobile, announced a statistic that made everyone in the audience gasp.  While their extensive Wi-Fi deployment only covers 1% of their geography, traffic over this network accounts for 50% of all of their mobile traffic.  A recent WBA report confirms the importance of Wi-Fi as part of the mobile network, estimating that 22% of all of the network capacity added by Tier 1 MNOs in 2013 will come from W-Fi.

4.    Monetization—Beyond Offload.  As Cisco recently identified in “Wi-Fi: New Business Models Create Real Value for Service Providers” operators are learning that, while mobile data offload is important, there are lots of other ways to monetize investments in Wi-Fi.  Many speakers described exciting new monetization opportunities based on advertising, location-based services and enhanced customer experiences.  Examples include, retailers who are using value-added Wi-Fi services to drive more sales and sporting venues using Wi-Fi to enhance the fan experience.

5.    Enterprises Are Becoming Mobile Operators.  Bob Friday of Cisco made the point that Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and the consumerization of corporate IT are actually turning enterprises into mobile operators.  They now have to ensure mobile connectivity and services to their employees both inside and outside of the office.  As a result, enterprises are now trying to figure out how their Wi-Fi networks integrate or interact more broadly with the SP’s mobile networks.

6.    A New Mobile Network.  Mike Roudi of Time Warner Cable described how, as a non-mobile operator, Wi-Fi offered TWC the opportunity to build a new form of mobile network.  Through building an extensive public Wi-Fi network TWC could now extend its customer relationship outside of the home.  Customers are definitely happy with this new strategy and TWC has the quantifiable evidence of this in reduced customer churn in its core broadband and video services.

 
The Wi-Fi Alliance predicts that the world will have 7 billion new Wi-Fi enabled devices in the next 3 years.  The Alliance’s CEO summed up the implication of this fact and the phenomenal future of Wi-Fi up best for everyone:  “This is only the dawn.”

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