TAG | Strong demand for WiFi/mobile convergence |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Tuesday, 27 March 2007 | |
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With a converged service, the subscriber is handed off from a cellular to a WiFi network when one is available. The WiFi alliance claims that carriers can leverage WiFi to efficiently manage scarce licensed spectrum resources by allowing subscribers to connect through a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. "Carriers worldwide are launching WiFi/mobile convergence service plans which include a combination of benefits including reduced voice and data pricing, delivered over WiFi networks at home and in hotspots," the Alliance says. However the Alliance's hopes that converge will generate significant revenue for its vendor members could be largely unfulfilled. There have been reports from several research firms, including ABI, all touting the benefits of and predicting a significant market for femtocells: very small cellular base stations installed in peoples' homes and linked into the network via the householder's broadband connection. Other than restricting access to the householder these are an integral part of the public cellulr network and are expected to provide the same user, and network operator, benefits as WiFi/mobile converged solutions with a technically more elegant and simpler solution. ABI Research forecasts that in 2011, more than 325 million converged WiFi/cellular phones will be shipped. This represents a 183 percent annual growth rate from the 2006 shipment total of 1.8 million. The ABI Research study, conducted in March 2007, surveyed 1,223 US wireless subscribers from a nationally-balanced and demographically representative sample of adult consumers. Respondents were asked to indicate whether a variety of listed benefits, typical of converged WiFi/mobile convergence phone offerings, would compel them to switch carriers now or in the future. Among the most attractive benefits were: - reduced prices for mobile data services at home (25 percent would switch); - better signal coverage in the home (25 percent would switch) - reduced prices on voice calls made from home (24 percent would switch); - reduced prices for data services at Wi-Fi hotspots (21 percent would switch); - reduced prices for voice calls made from public WiFi hotspots (21 percent would switch).{moscomment}
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