Wi-Fi - An Extension

and Alternative to
Cellular Networks

How to Manage
Quality of Experience
 Mobile Data Usage
Wi-Fi An Extension and Alternative to Cellular Networks Cellular and Wi-Fi

Japan Phillippines
Service providers, be they cellular, fixed line, cable and increasingly multi-play
providers are using Wi-Fi to act as an extension to cellular networks and also
as an alternative to cellular. But the fundamental premise for Wi-Fi delivering a
lower cost connectivity service, that people will pay for, is the ability to deliver Mobile
a quality of experience, that is better or at least the same as 4G. For customers Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi access needs to be seamless and deliver carrier grade quality.
The challenge is to move Wi-Fi from being a free alternative to cellular, to being United States South Korea
a service that people will pay for as part of a bigger bundle or as a stand alone
proposition.
Wi-Fi is already predominantly used. The app company App Annie published an
analysis of Wi-Fi versus Cellular usage access in 8 key markets in November 2015.
As can be seen in figure 1 Wi-Fi accounts for around three quarters of all mobile
data usage. In Germany this figure goes up to 90%.
Singapore United Kingdon
These figures are not really surprising. Customers generally love Wi-Fi. Its usually
free and normally fairly reliable. Even at the recent Mobile World Congress,
which is the centre of all things cellular, many delegates had data roaming
switched off and were availing of the free Wi-Fi hotspots to be found around the
venue and in Barcelona. Most service industries now consider it a necessity to
offer Wi-Fi to customers. Public transport, shopping malls, cafes, sports venues
pretty much anywhere youll find people congregating in public youll find
Brazil Germany
free Wi-Fi. However, with increasing use of video many public Wi-Fi services are
being stretched towards breaking point. On trains and buses its common to see
notices requesting that customers refrain from using video when using the free
Wi-Fi service.

Page 2 Figure 1: Mobile Data Usage on Android Phones.

September 2015. Source App Annie
 Wi-Fi - Best Effort is no Longer Good Enough

While it used to be that free Wi-Fi was enough to entice customers into a
particular coffee shop or a hotel, this is no longer the case. Customers are
starting to differentiate and are looking around for free high speed Wi-Fi. This
is not lost on the service providers who are rolling out high speed carrier grade
Wi-Fi for their customers. As with the mobile and fixed broadband market, well
see increasing use of superlatives in front of high speed to differentiate one
Wi-Fi service over another. Super high speed, ultra high speed and so on. This
is all well and good but if a service is slow due to congestion customers will
move on. Offering Wi-Fi and hoping that it will cope with the usage peaks is no
longer good enough. Service providers need to ensure QoE in order to get
customers using Wi-Fi as extension to, and an alternative to cellular.
Due to the relatively low connectivity costs, Wi-Fi is becoming an extension to,
as well as an alternative to cellular networks. We are seeing the emergence of
Wi-Fi first MVNOs, the roll out of multi-country Wi-Fi access points by service
providers (including cellular operators, cable companies and fixed broadband
providers) with Wi-Fi partners offering seamless authentication and access
without any customer intervention. This is blurring the lines between Wi-Fi and
cellular for many customers. Its network connectivity that enables customers to
watch Netflix, connect with friends on Facebook and listen to music on Spotify.
Taking price out of the equation, as long as the quality is good and access
instantaneous most customers dont really care about the network. They just
expect it to work and this includes delivering the QoE that customers expect.
In order to deliver the optimum customer network experience on Wi-Fi, service
providers need the tools in place that proactively manages QoE by setting rules
for Wi-Fi offload from cellular and vice versa.

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 Wi-Fi as an Extension of Cellular:
Adding Seamless Wi-Fi in Mobile Plans

The following section of this document discusses use cases and real-life
examples of service providers rolling out Wi-Fi as an extension and alternative
to cellular networks. What is consistent in all these cases is the ability to deliver
quality of experience.

WI-FI BUNDLING IN CELLULAR DATA PLANS

Having Wi-Fi access bundled into mobile data bundles is becoming increasingly
common. In Singapore Singtel offers its Wi-Fi service bundled in with its mobile
data plans. Singtel claim that this is Asias first Wi-Fi integrated mobile plan. The
main benefits that Singtel promotes are:
yyEase of use - Switch automatically between 3G/4G and premium Singtel
network without a manual password login
yyWi-Fi Speed - Surf 5x faster than regular WiFi services, at a typical speed of
4-10Mbps
yyCoverage - Coverage available at more than 700 hotspots nationwide,
including popular shopping malls and busy MRT stations
yyLow cost - Unlimited data usage at Singtel Wi-Fi hotspots till 30 June 2016

The fact that network handover is automatic would suggest that, unless they
check, users are unaware when they switch from 3G /4G to Wi-Fi. This opens up
some new opportunities for service providers to supplement cellular networks
with Wi-Fi assuming that the quality delivered is what the customer expects,
and not worse than the 3G / 4G service that theyre use to.

Page 4 Figure 2: Singtel Bundling Wi-Fi and Cellular

 Wi-Fi as an Extension of Cellular:
Adding Seamless Wi-Fi in Mobile Plans

In the US, Sprint partnered with Boingo in April 2015 to offload its customers
data traffic to Boingos Wi-Fi networks at 35 major U.S. airports. It was reported
that this deal was part of Sprints strategy to have Wi-Fi as an integral part of its
network to improve network performance.
Fast forward to February 2016 Boingo is reported saying that roughly 22 million
Sprint customers are now moving onto Boingos Wi-Fi network in dozens of U.S.
airports across the country. Boingo also said it eventually expects to support
up to 40 million total Sprint customers.
In terms of data used the average Boingo customer used 35 MB per session in
2013 and that number has grown to 300 MB in 2016. When asked about the
Sprint deal, Boingo CEO stated that carrier quality or carrier grade is a critical
component to rolling this out.
This underlines the need to deliver the right QoE in order to make Wi-Fi a real
extension to cellular.

Page 5 Figure 3: Sprint, Boingo Wi-Fi Offers at US Airports

 Wi-Fi as an Extension of Cellular -
The ABC Approach to Customer Experience

ABC ALWAYS BEST CONNECTED DELIVERING THE BEST NETWORK

EXPERIENCE
With the availability of carrier, community and municipal Wi-Fi, service providers
have an opportunity to use a combination of Wi-Fi and cellular to ensure
that their customers are always best connected. This can include automatic
detection of the strongest signal and seamless handover (assuming the
underlying business rules are met).
This can make up for holes in cellular coverage, such as in-building coverage and
in remote locations, as well as provide an effective off-load solution for capacity
management. This move to ABC illustrates the evolution of Wi-Fi. Initially
Wi-Fi was used as Always Cheapest Connected (ACC). However the ability to
intelligently route traffic onto Wi-Fi puts QoE centre stage to ensure that Wi-Fi
can be used to deliver the best connection to customers.

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 Wi-Fi as an Alternative to Cellular

WI-FI FIRST MVNOS USING WI-FI TO KEEP DOWN WHOLESALE COSTS

In order to keep their wholesale costs down some MVNOs are rolling out Wi-Fi
first services. Only when the Wi-Fi signal is not strong enough does the traffic
automatically switch to the 4G/3G service of the cellular wholesale provider. The
most high profile example is Google Project Fi. By using low cost Wi-Fi access
points Google can offer low(ish) cost plans, which start at $20 per month and
$10 for each 1GB of data used. These plans include roaming to 120 countries.
According to their website Google automatically connects Project Fi customers
to free, open Wi-Fi networks that do not require any action to get connected
(such as, enter a password, watch an ad, or check-in). Google also states that
they use a network quality database to help determine which networks are high
quality and reliable.

COMMUNITY WI-FI PROVIDING A READY MADE NETWORK

Community Wi-Fi involves people letting others access their broadband
network as part of a community. In return they get access via Wi-Fi to the
broadband used by other community members. Fon is one such company who
use this crowdsourcing approach to build a global network of Wi-Fi hotspots.
Increasingly service providers are taking advantage of community Wi-Fi to
augment their own fixed and mobile broadband networks. As community Wi-Fi
provider Fon uses the message Share your Wi-Fi and roam the world for free
in order to help attract new customers.
One of the major benefits that Fon have reported is that operators who sign
up with Fon and compliment their own networks with community Wi-Fi is that
churn is typically reduced by 15-20%.

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 Wi-Fi as an Alternative to Cellular

A TWO TIER APPROACH TO COMMUNITY WI-FI

Some service providers are adopting a two tier approach to community Wi-
Fi. They already have customers using their home broadband service and /
or IPTV services. By making available access to their customers broadband
services via Wi-Fi provides a ready-made network of Wi-Fi access points. The
two tier approach involves service providers using their own customers Wi-Fi
access points first, and only when the required QoS or coverage doesnt meet
the required level, will they fall back to the wider community Wi-Fi network
providers.
Using this two tier approach can deliver cost savings to the service providers as
well as providing more direct control over QoE.
With many service providers offering multi-play services most now provide TV
anywhere / everywhere services to enable customers to watch TV shows on
their tablets or smartphones. Ensuring the required QoE for remote TV viewing
over community Wi-Fi highlights the need for being able to monitor and manage
QoE in real-time.
Community Wi-Fi will work best if there are rules that can be applied in real-time
in order to deliver the correct level of QoE.

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 Managing Quality of Experience on Wi-Fi

Quality is now centre stage in Wi-Fi. But how can devices intelligently and
automatically connect with the Wi-Fi access point that will deliver the right QoE
for individual customers? Access Network Discovery and Selection Function
(ANDSF) enables prioritization of Wi-Fi networks under dynamic conditions, such
as co-ordinating attachment to one network versus another when bandwidth is
better, or network congestion is occurring on one of the networks considered.

ANDSF - HOW DOES IT WORK?

ANDSF enables operator controlled offload by assisting devices to discover
access networks in their vicinity (e.g. Wi-Fi) and provide rules to prioritize and
manage connection to all networks. This allows operators to dynamically control
and define preferences that is how, where, when and for what purpose a
device can use a certain radio access technology e.g. under what conditions
traffic moves from cellular to Wi-Fi.

WHICH TRAFFIC GOES WHERE: NETWORK SELECTION INTELLIGENCE

Operators can define policies that enable devices to automatically connect
and authenticate to Wi-Fi access points. From the users perspective this is a
completely seamless and transparent experience. The operator can centrally
manage policies which give a great deal of control over which Wi-Fi networks
will be selected and under what conditions.
These network selection decisions can be based on multiple inputs including
customer profile, historical data consumption, tariff plan, device type, time-of day,
location information and a wealth of other network information. ANDSF enables
operators policies to be installed on users devices and also to change them
dynamically as conditions change.

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 Network Selection Intelligence Sample Use Cases

Having Network Selection Intelligence available can drive numerous use cases.
These include:
Congestion Management and Intelligent Traffic Steering:
Service providers can reduce and manage network congestion, and balance
traffic loads across the available access networks and access points by
dynamically providing differentiated policies to each user.

Customer Visibility and Analytics:

Service providers can obtain highly granular reporting of user behavior and data
usage across all access networks. For example, application usage, uplink and
downlink data consumption across all access networks, Wi-Fi network selection
and offload.

Co-ordinated Policy Controls and QoE:

By co-ordinating policy controls across Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks service
providers can pro-actively segment and control network traffic. This can be used
not just for QoE but also for other considerations, such as managing potential
bill shock. For example, for customers who breach 80% quota of their cellular
data bundled allowance, start to off-load traffic to Wi-Fi where applicable. Also
some prepaid customers may be out of credit, but are loyal customers. An
option could be to seamlessly offload traffic to Wi-Fi for a given time period to
encourage loyalty.

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 Network Selection Intelligence Sample Use Cases

Improved Customer Experience:

Adding a layer of intelligent decisioning to always best connected models
ensures that customers are always being connected to the most appropriate
access network. These decisions can be based on device type, location,
subscription type, traffic type, available access networks and a host of other
information. The decision to move traffic from one network to another is not
just about signal strength that is just one criteria .
Customer experience can also be improved by enabling auto connect with zero
touch authentication to many Wi-Fi access points. Many existing operator Wi-Fi
networks use browser based captive portal login pages to authenticate users.
In order to enable auto connect and spare the customer the pain of a filling in
details the ANDSF server can transport the required credentials to the handset
/ user equipment meaning the user has a zero touch experience and does not
have to enter any credentials / complete any forms. The abilty to deliver zero
touch, seamless connection delivers a better customer experience, and can
further blur the lines between Wi-Fi and cellular for customers.

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 Openet Network Selection Intelligence

Openets Network Selection Intelligence solution is based on client interaction

with a fully standards compliant Access Network Discovery and Selection
Function (ANDSF) server contained within Openets Interaction Gateway.
Openet can provide its own client for download by end users or the client
functionality can be provided as a library for integration into 3rd party clients.
Furthermore, the Openet ANDSF server fully implements the 3GPP standard
defined S14 interface and can therefore interact with any third party ANDSF
client. The interaction gateway provides integration with back end operator
policy and charging control systems.

For more information please visit

www.openet.com/network-selection-intelligence

Page 12 Figure 4: Openets Network Selection Intelligence Solution

 About Us

w w w. o p e n e t . c o m
Openet provides the systems and expertise to assist Communication Service
Providers to grow to become Digital Service Providers. Openet enables this
through our real-time monetization, control, and big data preparation systems.
Our solutions enable service providers to be more innovative in how they
engage with their customers to drive new revenues and increase their share of
their customers digital spend.
Since its foundation in 1999, Openet has constantly been at the forefront of
telecoms software development and innovation. Its success is personified
by the many long-term relationships it has fostered with the largest, most
progressive, and demanding operators across the globe.
For more information, please visit www.openet.com

Reston So Paulo Dublin Kuala Lumpur

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