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WiFi 'storm' in 2015

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 15 Jan 2015
The growth of public WiFi hotspots in SA is expected to continue on an upward trajectory this year.
The growth of public WiFi hotspots in SA is expected to continue on an upward trajectory this year.

While data-hungry consumers may not be able to look forward to a WiFi "tsunami" in 2015, things like WiFi nodes, WiFi calling, social media-focused free WiFi and a much wider deployment of public WiFi hotspots will start becoming a reality.

This is according to industry watchers, who say WiFi growth will continue steadily into 2015, spurred by factors like the smartphone revolution, the spread of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and business (FTTB) and municipal initiatives.

Michael Fletcher, sales director for Ruckus Wireless sub-Saharan Africa, sums up the year ahead as "a perfect wireless storm". The "data-centric, wireless world" that has emerged, he says, calls for investment in WiFi.

"[According to an iPass report], global hotspot numbers are expected to grow to more than 340 million - that's nearly one hotspot for every 20 people on Earth by 2018. That compares to one WiFi hotspot for every 150 people today."

ICT veteran Adrian Schofield says SA will inevitably see growth in WiFi hotspots - much of which is already planned - this year. "The proliferation of WiFi hotspots is good for the carriers, as it offloads some of the load from their cells and is good for the users, who are able to ride on someone else paying for their data connection." A caveat, however, is that the resultant loss of revenue has to be made up somewhere, Schofield points out.

WiFi want

Fletcher believes WiFi is, in many ways, fast becoming a utility. "It's like running water or electricity - you expect it to be there, and if you don't have it, you are at a serious quality-of-life disadvantage."

The smartphone revolution continues to remake the wireless landscape as users in all geographies and all socio-economic groups flock to smart devices, notes Fletcher.

Ruckus' outlook for WiFi in Africa specifically is a positive one. The company predicts 2015 will hail more public WiFi as the requirement continues to grow across public venues like stadiums and general consumer areas. "Social media-driven WiFi models will be free in some form or another as the freemium model will likely be used to drive uptake."

WiFi will also start to make more sense to the public sector; WiFi calling and premium WiFi smartphones are also all on the cards for this year, says Ruckus. "If you look at vendors such as Republic Wireless, who offer unlimited talk and text over WiFi for $5 per month, it would seem highly probable that the premium cellphone vendors will look to develop voice over WiFi-enabled phones at a lower entry point for emerging markets."

Free options

Africa Analysis analyst Dobek Pater predicts new free or low-cost WiFi models. He cites the creation of "community" WiFi hotspots as an example. "[These] may lead to WiFi 'nodes' in cities. For example, with the deployment of FTTH/FTTB in various neighbourhoods, individuals' households or businesses may become WiFi hotspots.

"With sufficient density, there will be contiguous WiFi coverage in an area. The application of a Fon model would turn such neighbourhoods into WiFi city areas [and] this can lead to services such as free or low-cost on-net calls within neighbourhoods, using WiFi infrastructure for access."

Pater notes some individuals are already using voice over IP (VOIP) applications on their phones for low-cost (cost of data) voice calls using WiFi as access points. "This will become more prominent with WhatsApp also now offering voice services and new apps coming to the market. However, we will probably also see some of the operators moving towards offering VOIP services on wireless networks and WiFi will be used as access, where available."

Top of the list this year is the continued deployment of pubic WiFi hotspots. Pater notes Tshwane is expanding its coverage through the Isizwe project, while other larger municipalities are beginning to move in this direction. "We are likely to see more second tier towns (for example Stellenbosch) also deploy public WiFi."

Pater says there will most likely be more exploration this year of various funding models to ensure "free" pubic WiFi is sustainable.

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