openet_taking_wifi_beyond_offload_wp_2012dec_1.pdf

White Paper Taking Wi-Fi Beyond Offload Integrated Wi-Fi access can differentiate service and generate new revenues Monica Paolini President, Senza Fili Consulting © Copyright Openet Telecom, 2012 White Paper - Taking Wi-Fi Beyond Offload 2 INTRODUCTION - WI-FI IS MORe ThaN OFFlOa D everybody loves Wi-Fi in their smartphones. For mobile operators, Wi-Fi has softened the impact of mobile broadband adoption, absorbing, through a low-cost or even free wireless interface, traffic that otherwise would have led to congestion. For subscribers, Wi-Fi is synonymous with fast, unlimited and free connectivity. among tablet and laptop users, Wi-Fi is and is likely to remain the primary and preferred access interface for a long time. Yet mobile operators tend to have mixed feelings about Wi-Fi. It is used as an offload mechanism, to protect cellular networks from congestion and to provide a better service to subscribers when needed. Wherever possible, however, they prefer to avoid Wi-Fi, because in most cases they lose visibility into subscribers’ activities and do not know what the quality of the subscriber experience is. The reliance of Wi-Fi on heavily used licensed-exempt spectrum makes it difficult to manage interference and provide a consistent service to subscribers. And, finally, operators have used Wi-Fi as an enticing, but free, add-on, from which they have not been able to extract