Pennsylvania Wireless Association

Wi-Fi offloading is getting considerable attention, and then some, with escalating operator interest, which is, in turn, drawing notice from vendors big and small.

In a global mobile operator survey commissioned by Radisys and undertaken by Senza Fili Consulting, 82 percent of all operators surveyed support Wi-Fi offload. In addition, 100 percent of European and Asia Pacific operators intend to deploy small cell networks within two years, while 100% of North American operators will also do so but in three years.

"Even though Wi-Fi was in many cases deployed as a temporary solution, the operators surveyed are keen to retain their Wi-Fi infrastructure and/or roaming agreements after deploying LTE and small cells. The role of Wi-Fi may be reduced by small cell deployments, but most operators see the two as complementary," according to Radisys.

Wi-Fi offloading, as well as small cell networks, are seen by traditional mobile operators as ways to help ease network congestion. Though small players have dominated the Wi-Fi offload space, that is changing, as reflected by this week's announcement that Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) will buy privately held BelAir, which has made a name for itself by providing Wi-Fi access point technology, particularly in outdoor systems.

In yet another example of big vendor interest. Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU) last week unveiled its lightRadio Wi-Fi product, which is geared to operators that want to bundle Wi-Fi connectivity into their offering. The products lets customers switch automatically from a cellular service to residential or public Wi-Fi networks and hotspots without needing to login, deal with payment schemes or even be aware of the shift.

Wi-Fi offloading products from smaller vendors continue to proliferate as well. Ruckus Wireless, a rival of BelAir, will unveil next week at the Mobile World Congress its SmartCell, which combines a multi-radio, multi-function access point, the SmartCell 8800, with a small cell HetNet edge services platform, the SmartCell 200 gateway. The SmartCell 8800 combines Wi-Fi and 3G and LTE technologies, and the capability for Wi-Fi mesh backhaul between cells into a single, small device.  "With SmartCell, mobile operators can gain a capacity boost from LTE small cells, cutting costs and complexity by co-locating and combining them with Wi-Fi access points, sharing site-lease agreements and backhaul," said Ruckus.

Also at the MWC, Intrinsyc Software International, a developer of intelligent connected devices, will join small cell developer Ubiquisys to demonstrate Small Cell WiFi Wake-up, which combines a handset and small cell apps. WiFi Wake-up switches on a handset's Wi-Fi connection as a user enters a 3G/LTE/Wi-Fi small cell hotspot and logs into the hotspot's secure Wi-Fi network. When the user leaves the hotspot, the Wi-Fi connection is turned off. WiFi Wake-up will be demonstrated on a Ubiquisys smart cell, which combines a 3G/LTE/Wi-Fi small cell base station and computing platform.

In other Wi-Fi news, Accuris Networks announced that three unspecified North American top tier mobile operators have selected its AccuRoam product, for Wi-Fi offloading and also to enable International-roaming subscribers to automatically roam onto partner Wi-Fi networks when abroad. The AccuRoam platform enables smartphone and tables customers to automatically and securely access operators Wi-Fi hotspots by using their SIM credentials for authentication.

For more:
- see this Radisys release
- see this Ericsson release
- see this Alcatel-Lucent release
- see this Intrinsyc release
- see this Accuris release

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Customers are willing to pay extra for a better mobile broadband experience, and smartphone users are especially keen to pony up additional cash for improved services, according to research from TNS.

A survey of respondents in the United Kingdom and United States revealed that 36 percent of U.S. smartphone users and more than 22 percent in the UK claim that they are willing to pay an additional $10 or more per month for superior mobile broadband services. "As little as $7-8 per mobile broadband subscriber would constitute nearly $20 billion in annual revenue," said TNS, which under took the study on behalf of Wi-Fi networking gear specialist BelAir Networks, which this week agreed to be acquired by Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC).

"There is a particular challenge in metro areas where the high density of people and buildings makes ensuring a great mobile broadband experience very complex, but subscribers' willingness to pay more shows that an untapped market opportunity exists for fixed and mobile service providers and affiliated commerce partners," said Ronny Haraldsvik, chief marketing officer at BelAir.

The study also found that while 56 percent of respondents find the quality and speed of their mobile Internet connection in metro areas is adequate, that number drops to 43 percent for smartphone users. Further, more than 70 percent of smartphone users blame network connections or coverage for their reluctance to use mobile commerce or video applications.

For more:
- see this release

Related articles:
Ericsson buys Wi-Fi gear specialist BelAir Networks
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Systems software company AirHop Communications is collaborating with broadband wireless access networks company Airspan Networks on an LTE heterogeneous networks (HetNet) platform that integrates LTE radio access network (RAN) technology, network management systems and self-organizing network (SON) software.

AirHop and Airspan say their HetNet package, slated for commercial availability next quarter, will include Airspan's Air4G and AirSynergy multi-platform base stations integrated with AirHop's eSON Suite Release 1.0 advanced SON software. The Airspan eSON-enabled platform can be implemented in a number of network deployment scenarios, including distributed eNodeB architectures in autonomous mode or in coordinated mode via an X2 interface and also in hybrid architecture (eNodeB + SON server).

HetNets that combine small and large cells are seen as a viable option for expanding wireless network coverage and capacity, but mixing such a variety of cells can engender complexity and complications, including interference between cells, on a scale never witnessed before. The companies say they are trying to address the issues of coverage and capacity with the inter-cell interference that is widely predicted to be exacerbated due to the exponential growth in mobile data usage.

LTE networks will be unable to provide promised capacity unless small cells are actively managed in a real-time manner, said Yan Hui, AirHop CEO. "The goal is to provide intelligence. You need a lot of intelligence in the cells and in the network to make these things work," he told FierceBroadbandWireless.

He said the joint solution created by AirHop and Airspan can be deployed in a number of network deployment scenarios, including distributed eNodeB architectures in autonomous mode, coordinated mode via an X2 interface and hybrid architecture based on eNodeB plus a SON server.

AirHop is also working with InterDigital in an effort that integrates InterDigital's bandwidth management software (BWM) with AirHop's eSON software suite to provide capacity optimization and seamless connectivity across cellular, WiFi and other networks. 

In addition, AirHop has joined several global operators to define SON requirements for HetNets and incorporate these requirements in LTE small cell RFI/RFPs. Further, the company has contracts for military/public safety projects incorporating its core eSON technology.

On the small cell front, AirHop is pursuing agreements with WCDMA and LTE small cell vendors. It recently secured its first LTE picocell design win and is working with the customer on integration.

For more:
- see this AirHop release
- see this other AirHop release

Related articles:
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Challenges facing wireless operators are exemplified in two different industry reports released this week, which separately reveal skyrocketing growth in mobile broadband traffic and a breakneck pace of network investment.

Global mobile broadband traffic grew by 83 percent in the second half of 2011 with a CAGR of 234 percent during 2011, according to the latest global mobile broadband traffic report from mobile service optimization company Allot Communications.

Video streaming traffic continued its phenomenal rise, with 88 percent growth in 2H11, and is now gobbling up a 42 percent share of all global bandwidth. YouTube accounts for 24 percent of global broadband traffic, and 14 percent of total YouTube traffic is now high-definition.

Other services are also consuming increasing amounts of global mobile bandwidth. VoIP and IM traffic grew by 114 percent in 2H11, which Allot noted is "consistent with recent reports marking the decline of SMS and international voice calls."

Mobile operators have made no secret of the fact that the challenges of meeting escalating demand for broadband data services is driving them to make heavy network investments and migrate to next-generation technologies such as LTE. Industry vendors are reaping the rewards of these substantial network investments.

Dell'Oro Group announced that in 2011 the mobile radio access network (RAN) market recorded its strongest full-year revenue growth since 2004, with mobile RAN revenues growing 15 percentage points during 2011. Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Huawei recorded the largest full-year 2011 revenue increases and maintained their No. 1 and No. 2 revenue share rankings, respectively, in the mobile RAN market.

LTE RAN investments accounted for 40 percent of global mobile RAN growth in 2011. However, the strong momentum that drove the mobile infrastructure RAN market in 2011's first nine months slowed at year's end, paving the way for slower growth in 2012, the consultancy said.

"While operators in North America maintained capex guidance for 2011 and front-end loaded investments were expected, it was the shift in product mix from capacity to LTE coverage that resulted in weaker than anticipated wireless infrastructure investments," commented Stefan Pongratz, mobile infrastructure analyst at Dell'Oro.

For more:
- see this Dell'Oro release

Related articles:
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Report: YouTube streaming now 22% of mobile data bandwidth usage

Supporters of TV white spaces for unlicensed use breathed a sigh of relief when last week's payroll tax extension bill passed both houses of Congress, because it meant their vision of unlicensed broadband service still has a future.

"There will absolutely be unlicensed TV white space everywhere in the country, which is what we needed to keep developers investing in the technology," Harold Feld, legal director of advocacy group Public Knowledge, wrote in the group's policy blog.

Specifically, the final bill allows the FCC to create bands of unlicensed white space spectrum that could be used for wireless broadband applications. That's a reversal from earlier drafts of the bill, which would have prohibited the FCC from allocating any unlicensed spectrum in the TV white spaces.

President Barack Obama, speaking at an event outside Seattle last Friday, promised to sign the bill immediately upon his return to the White House.

Much attention has been focused on spectrum auction provisions of the bill, which pundits have said could generate $16 billion to $25 billion from the auction of TV broadcasters' spectrum. The cash would be partly be used to offset the cost of extending unemployment benefits in the payroll-tax-extension legislation. TV broadcasters that voluntarily give up their spectrum for the incentive auction would receive as much as $1.75 billion in auction proceeds in return. Public safety officials would get a block of spectrum worth around $3 billion and auction proceeds of around $7 billion in order to build a nationwide, interoperable communications network

White space supporters say the innovation enabled by unlicensed spectrum use could have an even bigger impact than licensed spectrum use. They point to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as examples of technologies that have thrived on unlicensed frequencies.

Unlicensed spectrum is "a public resource that drives economic growth and spurs technological innovation," said Matt Wood, policy director for the Action Fund at Free Press, another advocacy group.

"Unlicensed spectrum is vital for Internet companies building tomorrow's technologies and rural providers bringing broadband to unserved portions of the nation. And it's also increasingly important for incumbent providers such as AT&T and Verizon. Efficient unlicensed spectrum technologies such as Wi-Fi already handle more than one-third of the data generated by smartphone users, as well as 90 percent of the traffic from iPads and other tablets," Wood said in a statement.

But exactly how the FCC will manage new TV white spaces is still undetermined. Feld noted that the bill makes clear the FCC can have guard bands when it designs the new wireless service from reclaimed broadcast spectrum, and it can put unlicensed spectrum into those guard bands. However, much depends upon TV broadcasters and whether they are willing to sell off their spectrum, which could actually reduce the amount of white space because that broadcast spectrum could then be put to non-TV use. "If a lot of broadcasters cash out, that will eliminate a lot of existing TV white space..., but it will create more guard-band space. If broadcasters like staying broadcasters and don't cash out, then we will still have the TV white space we have now," Feld wrote.

Feld noted that the recently passed bill ensures companies building and deploying so-called Super Wi-Fi devices for use in TV white spaces can keep doing so, "knowing that one way or another they will still work."

"Thanks to the many allies and individuals that worked with us--particularly in the last two months--to turn this bill around, we converted a disaster to something that can be made to create a vibrant, competitive wireless future for all of us," said Feld.

For more:
- see this Free Press release
- see this Public Knowledge blog post
- see this GigaOM post

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Verizon, AT&T cheer spectrum auctions; $7B earmarked for public safety network
FCC poised to get authority to conduct incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum
Sprint, T-Mobile urge Congress to preserve FCC's spectrum auction authority
Seybold's Take: Spectrum auctions locked in Congress
Wilmington white spaces network goes live