Smartphone and tablet users will connect to Wi-Fi without even realizing it as new technologies enable Wi-Fi access points to communicate directly with the cellular networks. Samsung’s redhot Galaxy S4 smartphone ships with the latest Wi-Fi connectivity solutions, and component makers say more handsets like it are on the way.
Hotspot 2.0 is the Wi-Fi Alliance specification that enables devices to find and connect to Wi-Fi networks automatically. “Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is the first flagship smartphone to ship with Hotspot 2.0 enabled, and we believe it is the technology that’s probably going to change the wireless industry more than almost anything else in the last few years,” said Steve Hratko, director of service provider marketing at Ruckus Wireless, which makes Wi-Fi access points for service providers. “We’re going to make the process of connecting to a Wi-Fi network as easy to use and as secure as the process with cellular,” he said. “Wherever you go your mobile device will automatically seek out access points that are Hotspot 2.0 capable.”
Carrier revenue
As network operators make Wi-Fi an integral part of their networks, it’s expected to become an important revenue source. A new study from Mobile Experts projects that carrier Wi-Fi network revenue will hit $4 billion by 2018. “New technology will move quickly in Carrier Wi-Fi,”said Dr. Jacob Sharony, senior analyst at Mobile Experts, “We anticipate very rapid adoption of 802.11ac technology by operators, which will drive 5 GHz radios in handsets.”
The Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One both ship with 5 GHz radios, and are labeled 5G Wi-Fi devices. 5G Wi-Fi, which uses the 5GHz frequency band, is an architecture built on the 802.11ac IEEE wireless networking standard. It increases data speeds and reduces interference through a technique called beamforming, which enables wireless signals to bypass physical obstacles.
Broadcom, a leading maker of 5 GHz Wi-Fi radios, says several other manufacturers are preparing to bring 5G Wi-Fi handsets to market this year and next. The company has recently launched new chipsets that it says deliver cutting-edge Wi-Fi connectivity without draining a device’s battery. “You are firing your radios a lot less, but when you are firing you are capturing a lot more really quickly,” explains Rahul Patel, vice president for Broadcom’s mobile and wireless Group.
Operators are investing in Wi-Fi access points to prepare their networks to take advantage of these new handset features, and to relieve pressure on the cellular network. But there are still technical hurdles that must be overcome before Wi-Fi can be an integral part of the mobile network.
Just another RAN
The transition to a Wi-Fi network can affect the performance of smartphone applications when the user’s IP address changes, but Hratko of Ruckus Wireless says the 3GPP standards group is tackling that problem. “There is … a lot of work going on … to come up with a standard so Wi-Fi traffic can be backhauled into the mobile core, just like 3G, just like LTE,” he said. “That helps Wi-Fi become just another RAN in the mobile Internet,” he says. “Network engineers … will just pick, whether its LTE, its small cell, its Wi-Fi, they’ll put the right radio in the right place and the traffic all goes back to the same place … so that helps to insure your IP point of attachment stays the same, your services are all the same.”
5 million access points a year
Mobile Experts projects “a run rate of 5 million new access points a year,” as operators turn increasingly to Wi-Fi and handset makers launch devices that connect seamlessly to these networks. For smartphone users, ubiquitous Wi-Fi is becoming an expectation, as Broadcom’s Patel observes: “Innovation technology to the consumer, be it in the car, be it in your home, be it at the coffee shop or be in front of the televison, or when you are … sharing photos from one phone to another, is Wi-Fi.”
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