By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW CEO & Chairman
New data released by mobile technology and consulting group Mobilise shows that the case for operator-initiated Wi-Fi offload is still very much alive and relevant for mobile operators or MVNOs today. According to Mobilise, an average of 20% of mobile traffic moves to the public Wi-Fi network when available. Access to public Wi-Fi also boosts data consumption, Mobilise says.
The new findings were revealed in this blog post by Mobilise CEO & founder, Hamish White. The findings arguably positions (or re-introduces) operator-initiated Wi-Fi offload as one of a very few low-cost methods to boost mobile network capacity. Even as the era of 5G approaches, White says he believes Wi-Fi offload has an important role to play.
To derive hard facts on how Wi-Fi offload impacts mobile data usage, Mobilise spent 12 months extracting and analysing data from the Mobilise Wi-Fi hotspot service, says Hamish White. “What we have found without doubt is that about 20% of Mobile data will move across to the public Wi-Fi network when available. In simplified terms if a user was previously consuming 1 GB of mobile data, they would offload 200Mb of this 1 GB onto the public Wi-Fi network,” White says.
The study also found that access to public Wi-Fi drives users to consume 10% more data overall. The findings are significant in that they represent real world results and indicate that mobile operators and MVNOs could achieve real CAPEX savings (or conversely offer bigger data bundles) by incorporating public Wi-Fi into their wireless service fabric.
“There are benefits to Wi-Fi offloading both in terms of consumer experience but also cost efficiencies for the operator. I know plenty of service providers that would fall over themselves to offload 20% of their network data whilst also reducing cost,” says Hamish White.
He also says that delivering the right user experience as well as simplifying onboarding is critical to the success of any Wi-Fi offload service. Mobilise has recently automated the user signup process and cut down the number of user activation steps hence boosting the conversion rate of new customers.
/Claus.
Explanatory note on types of offload: In the case of operator-initiated Wi-Fi offload the operator actively takes steps – for example via service from Mobilise or others – to shift mobile traffic to available public Wi-Fi networks. This case is distinct from the more common use of the ‘Wi-Fi offload’ term, which generally is taken to mean when users themselves actively seek out and connect to Wi-Fi networks, e.g. in the home.