More than 60% of global mobile data traffic will be offloaded onto WiFi networks this year

Telco operators should be much more strategic when it comes to incorporating WiFi into their product offering.

Thursday, 6th April 2017 Posted 7 years ago in by Phil Alsop

The increase in mobile data traffic is an unstoppable force and a reality. A sevenfold increase in this growth is expected by 2021, according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (VNI). The exponential expansion of smartphone usage, improvements in network speeds, availability of mobile applications, ever-increasing presence of the Internet of Things (IoT), and the significant consumption of mobile video are the key reasons behind this growth.

Globally, more than 60% of mobile data traffic will be offloaded onto WiFi networks this year, according to a recent report titled “Mobile Data Offload & Onload” by Juniper Research, one of the principal analyst firms within the mobile and digital technology sector. Fon has been ranked as an Established Leader in Juniper’s Leaderboard for strong advancements made in its offering of WiFi Service Management Solutions.

In this context, Fon CEO, Alex Puregger, highlights the importance for telecommunications operators to consider WiFi as an integrated technology, which could bring them significant cost savings as well as new sources of monetization. “Telco operators should be much more strategic about how to use WiFi. The key is to integrate WiFi into their convergent offering.”

Juniper highlights that for mobile operators, new solutions for managing WiFi allow them to: reduce costs, increase the coverage in areas where cellular coverage is weak (indoors and in rural areas), and improve the connectivity experience for their users. This translates into a more differentiated offering and an increase in income for Service Providers.

The study suggests that the amount of data traffic being offloaded from the operator networks to other complementary networks will peak in 2018, reaching 64%.

“Conscious of this reality, at Fon we have optimized our Wifi Service Management Solution. Convergent operators will be able to transform individual access points into a WiFi network easily. Our strong AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) system permits multiple ways of authentication and our connectivity App offers a frictionless experience between WiFi and cellular. The possibility of integration with the cellular core allows operators to maintain visibility of their subscribers’ consumption (video, social media, games) which would otherwise be invisible.”

Juniper insists on the importance of deploying quality WiFi networks, given that they will be one of the main drivers of growth for the WiFi industry over the next few years.