For the longest time, the primary challenge for mobile network operators (MNOs) was to increase their footprint, achieving coverage across the widest possible area.
However, the challenge has now evolved; the demand for wireless data has exploded in recent years, leaving existing networks straining to keep up. MNOs now need to increase cell density where coverage is already provided by macro cells.
The solution has come in the form of small cell networks – low powered radio access nodes which integrate with the existing network and provide increased coverage for highly populated areas. Small cells improve quality of service (QoS) at a very attractive cost.
Not a total solution
Although small cell strategies go a long way to meeting the strains being places on cellular networks, the truth is that demand is still outstripping supply. Even with the efficiencies afforded by developing technologies and the new allocations of spectrum, it is apparent that more needs to be done.
Wi-Fi offload is nothing new; in fact, Cisco’s most recent Visual Networking Index suggested that 45 per cent of all mobile data traffic in 2013 was offloaded onto fixed networks via Wi-Fi or femtocells. Data from Wi-Fi suggests that offloading rose by an incredible 875 per cent in the Unites States last year.
Offloading cellular data onto Wi-Fi is an incredibly cost effective way of managing and redistributing data; however, its true value is only just beginning to be recognised and that is because the technology is evolving.
Wi-Fi offload 2.0
Next Generation Hotspot is a global initiative that will integrate Wi-Fi even further into the mobile data ecosystem. Devices will be able to securely connect to and seamlessly roam between access points without any human interaction. Rather than the current model, which sees Wi-Fi act as a siloed hotspot, providing ad hoc relief to the cellular network, Wi-Fi will be able to fully augment and support the mobile data network.
As well as the high bandwidth and low deployment costs seen with Wi-Fi, there are other benefits that will improve QoS. For example, it is likely that MNOs will quickly develop relationships with hotspot providers. This will allow them to bolster their indoor offerings in public venues and could potentially extend service to cover public transport or other areas that are otherwise difficult to provide stable connectivity.
Much has been said about the improved experience from the user perspective when it comes to NGH – the fact that devices will be able to bounce seamlessly between hotspots and the cellular network, significantly improving the mobile data experience; but the truth is that the technology will play a much more central role in the future of communications infrastructure. NGH could well prove to be the most significant piece in the puzzle to solving the supply and demand crisis that MNOs are facing.
The future is brighter than many of the pundits suggest
It is important to recognise that small cell and Wi-Fi are no longer competing technologies, but rather two sides of the same coin. When it comes to meeting the demands of a data hungry society, they might well be the two most critical weapons that MNOs have in their arsenal. Wi-Fi provides fast, inexpensive and robust wireless connectivity, while small cells increase cellular coverage in dense urban areas.
There has been much talk of a spectrum crunch – a doomsday scenario in which there is simply not enough capacity to handle demand. However, this is an unwarranted moral panic; the fact is that advances in technology have and will continue to meet society’s needs in age of mobile data.
