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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Understanding the Changing Mobile User

Mobile communications today is virtually indistinguishable from the first mobile call that was made four decades ago.  We have gone from monster handsets to pocket-sized portable computers.  Mobile communications has become an essential part of our daily lives.  For mobile operators and other companies operating in this space it is essential to know the facts about the mobile market and how the mobile user is changing.

The recent video by Cisco “Understanding the Changing Mobile User” provides key insights for SPs into how mobile users are using LTE, Wi-Fi and their changing mobile behavior.  The video identifies options for operators to be successful in the changing mobile world.

The video highlights the results of Cisco’s recent mobile consumer research study.  The complete results and white paper can be found at “Service Provider Wi-Fi and Small Cells:  Discover What Consumers Want from Wi-Fi and Mobile”

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Small Cells Are Big For Business

Closing the big deal.  Calming an irate customer.  Clarifying instructions given in an email.  Voice has long been the killer app for business.  As the world goes mobile, smartphones are becoming a key way for business people to stay connected, not just when they are out of the office, but an important means of voice communication in the office.  Like consumers, many business users are cutting the cord and using their mobile device, instead of their desk phone, to make and receive voice calls.  A recent Cisco study of mobile users reveals that 50 percent of knowledge workers use their mobile phone at least one-quarter of the time to make calls in the office, instead of reaching for a desk phone.  And, 35 percent of knowledge workers equally choose between a mobile and desk device when placing a call.  We expect this mobile displacement of the traditional desk phone to grow as employees increasingly bring their own mobile devices to work and use them for conducting business.

Mobile cellular networks were built to cover large outdoor and semi-outdoor areas.  They were never built to penetrate the steel, glass and concrete of modern buildings.  While there may be some coverage near the windows, the signal strength rapidly degrades as you head towards the center of the building.  This is only going to get worse as new building materials, such as blast resistant glass, make it even harder for signals from the macrocell network to adequately cover the place of work.  Our research found that one-third of all business users receive only 1 to 3 bars of signal strength at their place of work.  And, 10 percent of business people obtain very poor quality mobile service (1 to 2 bars).

The shift to mobile in the workplace should be good news for mobile operators.  But, if business users can’t connect at their place of work operators are never going to see that increased mobile traffic and revenue.  What is worse is that these high value business customers are going to look elsewhere for better mobile coverage at work.  Almost one-half of business mobile users told Cisco that they would likely switch to another carrier who offered better mobile coverage.  And, according to the same research, 25 percent of business users were extremely, or very likely, to switch to another mobile operator to ensure that they can reliably use their phones at work.

Fortunately, the licensed mobile network can now be easily extended indoors using, low power and low capacity licensed radio access points, or small cells.  These indoor small cells connect to the core mobile network through the business broadband data connection.  The best thing is that these licensed small cells are very compatible with existing business Wi-Fi networks, sharing the same power, broadband and often same location on the building’s ceiling.  In fact, many vendors, like Cisco, now make it easy to add mobile small cells to the corporate Wi-Fi network, by simply clipping the new small cell on to the existing wireless access point.  With a simple and elegant solution so readily available to solve the business mobile dead zone challenge, it is no wonder that ABI Research estimates that at least one-third of the projected 37.5 million small cell deployments in 2018 will be in enterprises and small and medium businesses. 

While better mobile voice quality is definitely the killer app for business small cell deployment, many businesses are starting to look beyond voice.  Of course, the small cells can also carry mobile data, providing a seamless and continuous data session and experience from the outdoor mobile macro network through to the deepest reaches of the office.  Other value-added services include such things as: collaboration applications, HD voice, on-net calling, location-based services and extending all of the traditional PBX functionalities to the mobile device.  Businesses and mobile operators alike, we see real value and opportunities when they move beyond delivering just better indoor voice quality for mobile business users and develop unique and valuable solutions that leverage business small cells for key verticals like education, retail, healthcare and hospitality.

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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.

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Observations from Mobile World Congress 2014

I have just returned from a very interesting and jammed-packed week at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona. More than 75,000 people were estimated to have attended this year’s MWC, and its fabulous new conference facilities proved a great place to celebrate the industry’s accomplishments and catch a glimpse of its potential future.  Much has changed in the industry over the last year since I reported my observations of MWC 2013.  However, what is most remarkable is how the boundaries of mobility continue to expand and morph – everything now seems to be mobile? 

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.       Awaiting the Next New Technology—Like last year, there was no big “buzz” technology pervading the show.  At previous shows everyone was talking about LTE (Long Term Evolution) as the latest mobile network technology.  This year it was virtually impossible to see those letters anywhere, and they didn’t seem to be on the tip of anyone’s tongue.  Though many countries in the world still lack 4G coverage and many others are just beginning to deploy LTE, the industry seems to have moved on but doesn’t yet know what the next new, shiny network technology will be.

2.       Next Generation Mobile Monetization — Mark Zukerberg’s keynote address and Facebook’s $19 B acquisition of WhatsAp made clear what MNOs already know – their business model is changing rapidly.  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.  Hence, there was a big focus on what that next wave of monetization looks like with everything from mobile cloud, network enhanced services and new solutions and services on display.

3.       Building the New Mobile – With the near ubiquity of Wi-Fi enabled devices, Wi-Fi access in homes and offices and the growth of public Wi-Fi, non-traditional mobile operators are exploring how they can create a “Wi-Fi Max-Mobile Min” mobile service.  Cable companies and other fixed line providers are asking if they can extend their voice and video offerings outside of the home and office, by anchoring the Internet connectivity with Wi-Fi access.  To avoid costly network builds and spectrum purchases, they would fill the 10-20% of the time that the user cannot access Wi-Fi by purchasing mobile connectivity from a MNO.

4.       Small Cells 2.0, From Legitimacy to Money Maker — Wi-Fi is now accepted as an integral part of the mobile network architecture.  Beyond delivering in-building coverage and offload relief, Wi-Fi is beginning to deliver alternative monetization opportunities.  For example, sophisticated location-based, Wi-Fi-enabled solutions that enhance the users experience and deliver benefits to the company’s bottom-line.  Operators are now seeking the same advanced monetization opportunities from licensed small cells.

5.       Virtualize Everything — Virtualization and the cloud have finally hit the core mobile network elements.  A number of vendors, including Cisco, announced that they have virtualized many of the EPC (Evolved Packet Core) components.  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 mobile network to extend well beyond the boundaries of the traditional mobile network.

6.       SPs Manning the Booths, Turning the Tables — At one time, service providers were the kings of the show, being courted by vendors and other companies looking to sell them their mobile products and services. The tables seemed to have turned somewhat. I was surprised by the number of prominent service providers from around the world who had their own large and prominent booths.  Now, it seems that SPs are keen to show off and sell their latest applications, cloud services, gaming and other innovative mobile offerings. These services are seen as new revenue-generating opportunities that will hopefully deliver the next wave of monetization opportunities

7.       Bigger and Better — Not so long ago mobile devices kept striving to keep getting smaller and more compact, whereas their TV cousins were all about getting bigger and brighter.  As the smartphone market starts to mature, device manufacturers are trying to bring the TV to our hand by creating larger devices.  The tablet and phone are merging to create the “phablet” - devices with a 6 to 7 inch screen that were on display at every manufactures’ booth.  Equally, the smartphone is getting bigger with Samsung launching the 5.1 inch S5 and LG’s 5.2 inch G2, almost a full inch larger than the original models.

8.       From M2M to the Internet of Everything — Pervasive, fast, mobile connectivity is finally creating a real market, not just for machine-to-machine but for everything that can be connected wirelessly.  As at the Consumer Electronics Show, connected devices such as wearables, appliances, home automation and cars were everywhere.  With the prevalence of things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sensors and big data it seems like we are finally at the dawn of a new world where all animated and inanimate objects are connected. 

9.       Making Cities Smarter — When the Internet of Things, mobility and cities all collide good things begin to happen.  Barcelona is actually one of the best places to see the future of cities.  Its smart city initiatives not only greatly reduce costs and improve efficiencies, but improve the quality of life for its citizens.  I personally spent considerable time touring the city with customers to show how Barcelona is deploying such things as smart bus stops, parking, garbage collection, lighting, and providing municipal information to create the world’s leading smart city.

10.   Enterprise Mobility, the Next Phase— Most companies are beginning to embrace bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies to allow employees to use their own mobile devices for business.  Many vendors are helping this trend along through better device management, security, and dual-persona solutions.  A number of innovative companies, consultancies and service providers are now developing unique solutions to take enterprise mobility to the next phase—beginning to truly transform businesses and industries using mobility.

11.   Security — While security has always been paramount in mobility, it seems like a couple of three letter acronyms (IoT and NSA) are escalating its importance.  For the Internet of Things to really take off people have to be certain that their car’s operating system, home sensors or information collected about their personal health is absolutely secure.  One of the most interesting devices launched at MWC, the Blackphone, is designed to protect users from unauthorized surveillance.  Presumably, in response to government spying controversies. 

12.   Mobile Money, Again, Again, and Again—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. But, once again, that still seems to be some distant future world.  While there were lots of interesting technologies and solutions on display and evidence ofsome consumer adoption, I think that we still have a long way to go and I suspect that I will be reporting on the future promise of mobile payments yet again next year.

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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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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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Small Cells are Big Things in the Middle East

I recently had the honor to speak at the Small Cells Forum in Dubai. One thing is certain: Wi-Fi and small cells are certainly important throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa.  Operators from throughout the region came together to learn how they could deploy small cells to meet their growing customer demands and improve their own bottom-line in the process. 

I took away six key messages from the conference on the future of mobility in the Middle East:

1.    Small Cells Are the Next Big Thing: Operators from large countries like Saudi Arabia to smaller countries like Qatar all wanted to learn how they could use small cells to help them cope with the huge traffic that they are experiencing on their mobile networks and to  improve mobile coverage, especially indoors and in heavily congested areas. 

2.    Small Cells Are Not an Add-On: SPs realize that future of mobile networks lies in a heterogeneous network (“HetNet”) world where licensed and unlicensed mobile networks coexist and complement each other.  With their unique strengths, Wi-Fi and licensed small cells are quickly becoming important components of an integrated access portfolio complementing the macro mobile access network.

3.    A New Enterprise-SP Partnership: Enterprises have already invested in Wi-Fi in order to bring mobility to the workplace.  However, they now face the rising challenge of BYOD – employees using their own devices to work and expecting the same service and experience that they enjoy outside of the office.  Several speakers explained how enterprises want to partner with service providers to provide a highly reliable integrated Wi-Fi and cellular service to their employees.  A critical first step is using small cells in enterprises to improve the quality and coverage of mobile voice in the workplace.

4.    Vertical Solutions Are Key: Several speakers provided excellent details and case studies of how SPs need to be creating specific vertical solutions to be successful in selling small cell solutions in the enterprise market.  The key verticals that offer the biggest opportunities and have the most unique needs include: education, hospitality, hospitals and retail.

5.    Wi-Fi Offload Comes to the Rescue: Saudi Arabia has the highest mobile growth in the region and some of the highest mobile usage in the world.  The country expects the number of mobile subscribers to increase 5-fold over the next 3 years and mobile broadband data to triple over the same period.  Amro Mohamed Al Buti, Head of Application and Content Design at Saudi Telecom described a fascinating case study of how they are using small cells to intelligently offload up to 7% of their anticipated mobile traffic, saving them $3.6 Billion by 2020.

6.    It’s All About the Data: Operators and vendors alike recognize the value that is waiting to be released from small cell technologies.  Hidden in the technology is an incredible amount of information and insight that providers can exploit to deliver tangible value to their bottom-line.  Data analytics and location-based services offer real opportunities to monetize small cell deployments.  The challenge to all participants was: “stop letting Google extract the information from your network and create value.”

 As I stared down on Dubai from the Burj Khalifa – the tallest manmade structure in the world (2,722'/830 m) – I reflected on the future of small cells in the Middle East.  However, as I connected to the local Wi-Fi at the “Top of the World” to instantaneously send photos of the stomach churning view to my family back home, I realized that much of that future has already arrived.

 

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