We have made it to Day 3 of Mobile World Congress and the launch of the WBA’s Carrier Wi-Fi Summit presentation program which had an impressive 300 attendees! This was kicked off by the WBA’s Chairman JR Wilson (AT&T Mobility), who’s opening address focused on transforming the connected world with Next Generation Wi-Fi. This was followed by Dr. Reza Jafari, Chairman & CEO of e-Development International, who discussed the evolving role of Wi-Fi for operators.
Dr. Jafari then moderated a panel discussion focusing on the Global Role of Wi-Fi in ICT with Diego Molano Vega (Colombian ICT Minister), Selina Lo (Ruckus Wireless) and JR Wilson (WBA). As part of this discussion, Diego Molano Vega shared a video giving a real world example of how Wi-Fi can improve the standard of living for people in Colombia.
This was followed by a number of high quality presentations from all corners of the mobile ecosystem. Mohan Gyani began with an insight into driving the Mobile Broadband Revolution with Wi-Fi, which was closely followed by Kris Rinne (AT&T) who discussed the Evolution of AT&T’s Wi-Fi Strategy. Dr. Seong-Mok Oh (KT) then spoke on the innovations occurring with Carrier Wi-Fi and Bill Huang (China Mobile) impressed the audience with some incredible high volume Wi-Fi deployments in China when he discussed how 4G and Wi-Fi will play together in the Mobile Broadband Era. Alex Jinsung Choi (SK Telecom) rounded off the morning’s activities by giving an overview of the Wi-Fi evolution occurring in South Korea.
Mohan Gyani returned to initiate a panel discussion on the connected lifestyle in the future where he questioned his panel of experts on what they think the mobile landscape will look like in the year 2020. Chris Rinne responded that there will be multiple layer architecture where the network is highly efficient and highly optimized. She stated that there would also need to be a strategy on how to fully utilize licensed and unlicensed spectrum to deliver a great mobile experience. In response, Prateek Pashine (Tata) stated that security will be key! With people are putting personal details all over the network, operators will need to address this important issue. Bill Huang (China Mobile) commented that China has invested heavily in infrastructure in recent years and he believed that Small Cells are the future. In 2020, he believes that the Wi-Fi experience on the road will need to be the same as the Wi-Fi experience the user has in the hotel.
Daryl Schoolar (Ovum) opened the afternoon session by discussing how to deliver a better customer experience on Wi-Fi. As moderator of the next panel, he introduced Arnaud Vamparys (Orange) who discussed Orange Connect and the recently defined carrier grade Wi-Fi. Selina Lo (Ruckus Wireless) presented Wi-Fi is a key strategy to building a footprint with managed services. She discussed that most mobile data is generated indoors in shopping malls, stadiums and coffee shops and it is critical for Wi-Fi service providers to deploy in a desirable venue.
Edgar Figueroa (Wi-Fi Alliance) followed this by stating that Wi-Fi is a force for good when it comes to enabling a tremendous range of exciting opportunities. He revealed that 93% of tablet owners connect via Wi-Fi only and 94% of travellers cite Wi-Fi as the #1 hotel amenity. With more than 400 devices now being Passpoint certified, NGH deployments look set to steadily increase.
Dave Fraser (Devicescape) discussed how to improve user experience and ROI using Carrier Wi-Fi and Jahangir Mohammed (Jasper Wireless) brought up the hot topic of the Wi-Fi Customer Experience with regards to the world of ‘Internet of Things (IoT).’ He quoted the Economist who stated that 95% of C-Level Business Executives said that they aim to deploy IoT in next 3 years.
Next came the much anticipated presentation from Erick Tseng (Facebook) who discussed the company’s interest in Wi-Fi as a tool to connect businesses with customers. Erick stated that users who check in using Facebook Wi-Fi can receive free Internet connection. This presents a great business opportunity in terms of distribution and awareness – making it possible for them to target clientele and build a relationship with that user. Developing a loyalty points program and understanding their behaviour patterns will certainly help to drive business. Erick commented that he believes everyone should be able to access to the Internet and highlighted the importance of making carrier data more accessible and affordable.
Todd Haugen (Microsoft) followed with a presentation on how Skype is developing its Wi-Fi initiative. He highlighted the importance of delivering connectivity to the masses and how the recently announced ‘Wi-Fi Forward’ initiative will go towards making this a reality.
WBA Co-Chair Chris Bruce (BT) closed the day’s proceedings by stating that there is an increased need for roaming. In 2012, the equivalent of the entire population of China travelled abroad. This goes towards explaining the increased need for improved roaming procedures where it is easy and predictable, removing the dreaded bill shock. Chris divulged that over 3 billion smartphones will be shipped by 2018 and more than half of global traffic will be carried by Wi-Fi in that same year!
On Day 4, look forward to more exciting presentations from the likes of AT&T, GSMA, Cisco, Comcast, GoGo Inflight, Boingo Wireless, iPass and BSG Wireless. See you there!
