The Wi-Fi Monetization Opportunity: Amdocs Service Provider Wi-Fi Research Study
View the Q&A
The Wi-Fi Monetization Opportunity: Amdocs Service Provider Wi-Fi Research Study
The widespread availability of Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including smartphones, PCs and tablets, has led to enormous demand for reliable Wi-Fi services. As a result, service providers are refining their Wi-Fi strategies and deploying Wi-Fi networks in greater numbers.
Amdocs recently completed a sponsored research study on service provider Wi-Fi strategies and perspectives. Conducted by leading analyst firm Analysys Mason on behalf of Amdocs, the study involved telephone interviews with technical and business personnel at more than 30 operators around the globe, including North America, Caribbean and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Join Ann Hatchell, Director of Marketing for the Amdocs Data Experience business unit, and Chris Nicoll, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, to review the key findings of the study and to understand service provider perspectives on:
- Key drivers for service provider Wi-Fi deployments;
- Innovative methods for monetizing Wi-Fi that go beyond direct charging of customers;
- Top technical and business challenges service providers are facing; and
- Evolving technologies and standards for Wi-Fi.
Thank you for all your questions today, this Q&A is now closed. You can email your questions directly to Chris Nicoll and Ann Hatchell by sending them to Chris.Nicoll@analysysmason.com or Ann.Hatchell@amdocs.com
Will WIFI networks “die” once the mobile operators start to deploy massively small cells at street level if finally there is not spectrum (capacity) limitation?
The big IF there is spectrum availability.. Wi-Fi has lower cost points than cellular connections, but even where cell service is plentiful, we have seen both in our own Arbitron Mobile study as well as the AT&T example that usage of both services goes up.
Even if an operator deploys hotspots with eap-sim authentification, how will it manage to monetize because not many terminals are eap-sim/aka capabile?
hi – in the absence of eap capable devices, then a captive portal would be the primary direct charging vehicle.
What are the major differences between passpoint and ansdf?
hi – Passpoint is actually the certification program for Hotspot 2.0. HS 2.0 will facilitate access to WiFi hotspots – based on criteria such as my hotspot (ie operator), or my partners. So it’s really about getting better seamless access to Wifi.
ANDSF is a 3GPP initiative and this is around controlling whether to put a user onto WiFi or keep them on 3G/4G. So this is really about Always Best Connected – getting onto the best possible network.
I think that wifi shuold be best effort and cheap service for all the P2P junkies to abuse. keep the 3G network clean and premium with better quality and speeds and charge for mobility. Chris, your views please?
I think there are limits to charging users for Wi-Fi service, and in some markets, such as the US, users expect Wi-Fi to be a free service. In Europe and in particular Asia, Wi-Fi is more common as a paid service. My point is that users are not the only source of revenue operator should be looking towards.
Sorry Chris, I don’t know which part of Asia you refer to, but I think not in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. the same perception is built here : it’s usually a free service (although yes, smetimes the service not good)
Hi – what i can say is that we are seeing interest in introducing tiered or metered wifi in a number of markets in Asia including southest Asia.
yes, that would be a better adressing statement. most of operators here are try to monetize this service, or use them as “additional revenue channel” or event an off-loading,or combination of those. but I think we’re just in the early stage of it
Yes, sorry, it would be much more accurate to say they are attempting to monetize it. thanks Ann!
So you basically do not beleive in monetization through charging an enduser? Then what are the ways for carrier grade wifi (which cost sisnificantly for operators) to compete with plenty of small free wifi (low quality but still free) spots that are covering a lot of venues enen here in Russia? Tnx
Does this technology support voice call? and will the charges be cheaper than what is obtainable on GSM platform.? Will the SPs still use SIM to connect their customers
Will like to confirm if this slide will be made available
yes, voice can be supported over WiFi. I can’t comment on the charging here. EAP SIM will be used to authenticate both voice and data over wifi.
In case of Wi-fi,Authentication method,Back haul is different…Suppose in case of on-going VOIP call how will it switch to 4G/3G once the user is out of wi-fi service area ?
Hi – IP Flow Mobility and other 3GPP handover technologies can be deployed to support this
You said that offload is an incentive for operators to offer Wi-Fi. Are the cost-savings of offloading onto Wi-Fi enough to actually cover the cost of Wi-Fi access?
Potentially, yes. Look for an Analysys Mason update report on the Costs of Wi-Fi offload in the next quarter.
What roles will wireless offload play in this mix?
Hi – the research showed that offload (to reduce congestion in 3G network) is still a key driver for implementing WiFi. However it also showed that service differentiation is now equally important as offload as drivers for wifi
is there a trend amongst operators to rely less on aggregators moving forward…i.e. buid up and own their own wifi assets and negotiate roaming agreements directly ala the mobile model today?
Hi – The research showed that 92% of those surveyed offering roaming, use aggregators which offer a timesaving benefit. Curative is another business model that will become important – for operators who do not have wifi assets.
wifi access will have to be much cheaper than 3g/4g if you expect users to pay for it. build the costs into your 3g offers and make it a vas service? your views on this please?
Hi – the answer is, it depends. some of the interest we are seeing in offering metered wifi, means that this would have some level of premium options such as restricted access, speed and so forth, better securty.
Will we be able to get a PDF or similar so we can share this with colleagues?
Is mobile-WiFi handover within a session currently supported / deployed anywhere?
You were mentioning 260MB used during Wi-Fi sessions. Is this the average session? or per month?
This data came from our actual user panel, in conjunction with Arbitron Mobile, and represents a montly median. 148MB Wi-Fi + 111MB Cellular. The means are much higher: 679MB Wi-Fi and 417MB Cellular.
What will be the relative roles of small cells and Wi-Fi in coping with traffic – more complementary than competitive?
i expect them to be complimentary – mostly due to spectrum availability and constraints. Cellular requires licensed spectrum which may come with capacity restraints, even in a small cells format. is 5×5 enough of a channel? 10×10? With Wi-Fi, and of course the necessary interference control (and backhaul – a HUGE challenge), providing huge channels (upwards of a gig with 802.11 ac) they will be complimentary.
how common is the EAP SIM technology across the UK cellular providers to gain seamless connectivity / authentication?
hi – i can’t comment specifically on Eap sim penetration in the UK, but generally speaking fairly broad penetration. and the research highlighted this as a a primary auth method
Consider intelligent client coupled with crowd sourced free hotspots. While it benefits the carriers greatly in terms of data offload, how sustainable is this business model, and what does the evolution look like?
hi- curative models will continue to be important. this is also where the role of intelligent clients comes in – to help determine the viability of available hotspots such as signal strength, congestion and available speed.
Can there be a mix of toll free and tiered WIFI models? Depending on the type of content viewed by the users
Hi Gregory – yes, I think we can expect to see a mix of models. Toll-free could be applied to a specific time of day or day of week to relieve a wifi tiered quota. Or against access to specific apps as part of a promotion.
The question really is about who bears the “monetization” of WiFi? Provider charges the end user, Carrier charges the WiFI agent??? Personally, I cannot envision end user adoption of paying for WiFi……the precedent today in the US is that it’s free. Paying for WiFi access would be a tough pill for an end user to swallow.
Hi Joanie, I think the industry has to get beyond charging users as the main method of monetizing Wi-Fi. There are many other options including advertising, charging the venues, providing value add via data analytics. There are many different options.
Chris mentioned that Operators are attracted to WiFi because they are “off the meter”. Yet, in Ann’s slide – she mentions that Operators are keen on “Tiered WiFi” – are there conflicting views amongst operators on this topic?
Hi Gary, Actually, Users are attracted to Wi-Fi because it is ‘off the meter’. We see Operators turning to SP WiFi as a means to increase the value of Wi-Fi and thus increase revenue opportunities.
Will the role of Wi-Fi change as Net Nets – comprising pico cells, femtocells, DAS etc. – become pervasive in maturing cellular networks?
I don’t see the role of Wi-Fi changing in a Het Net environment as long as seamless handover is fully supported
What is the Technology used in order to seamlessly hand-off from 4G to WIFI? How does the authentication take place?
Here in the Philippines mobile internet is bundled with other mobile vas products, do you see service providers bundling Wi-FI with other online products?
The reson why the usgae over WiFi continues to increase is because the heavy monetisation of usage over the Cellular network? And if yes then by monetising WiFi wouldnt we hinder usage there as well?
The challenge for making users pay for Wi-Fi comes down to the value of the service to users. Today, there is little value-add beyond connectivity provided by most providers. Where users have to pay for access, such as many airports, some hotels, user satisfaction is very low. However, montization where users are not charged but the venue owners are, does represent a key opportunity. The value to the venue owners and retailers can come from the data analytics via an intelligent client on the device or improved analystics in the access points themselves.
The webinar has started, if you are experiencing problems with the live streaming then please click here to view the non streaming version: http://webinars.telecoms.com/webinar/nostream/
Do you think users will eventually get used to the idea of paying for Wi-Fi in the way that they pay for cellular data access?
Can you explain what interfaces are used to do metering in the Wi-Fi network?
Hi Jim – the key protocol today is RADIUS. however as operators evolve to a common evolved packet core supporting multiple network types, then Diameter will be a key protocol for applying metering and policy across WiFi