'SA wants WiFi'

South African telecommunications operators are urged to incorporate WiFi into their service offerings as the technology is set to become the main source of Internet access within the next two years.

This is according to global networking firm Cisco Systems, which recently released its Cisco 2012 Mobile User Survey. Research carried out by Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) found that increased global demand for mobile devices and network connectivity will see WiFi and traditional mobile networks play a critical role in meeting consumers' needs.

According to Cisco, most mobile devices have WiFi Internet access capabilities. “In fact, with the exception of smartphones, WiFi is now the predominant access technology for mobile devices.” Plus, says the IBSG, there has been a considerable rise in the number of “nomadic” devices like laptops, tablets, and e-readers that almost exclusively connect to the Internet via WiFi.

The need for WiFi as an alternative means for connecting to the Internet, driven by “explosive” growth in mobile devices, is manifest locally in a number of trends, says Cisco.

Cisco's research showed that mobile devices are increasingly used for entertainment, with almost half of mobile users consuming video, music, books and games on their devices on a regular basis. Cisco says this trend is expected to increase as devices become more powerful and networks become faster.

An interesting development, says Cisco, is that mobile access no longer exclusively entails using devices while on the road. The IBSG survey found that consumers use their mobile devices for more than 2.5 hours at home on a typical day, with that number expected to go up.

Stuart Taylor, director of Cisco IBSG service provider practice, says this shift has led to an increase in WiFi connections. He says most smartphone users are also supplementing their mobile connectivity with WiFi.

“People prefer WiFi over mobile to connect their devices, even though it is not as ubiquitous as one's mobile network coverage. A major driver of WiFi is its lower cost and we have seen that users see it as easier to use and more reliable than mobile.”

If given a choice between access networks, the survey showed mobile users choose WiFi over mobile across all network attributes, with the obvious exception of coverage. Cisco also notes that - across most attributes - a quarter of consumers see no difference between the two networks.

“As is often the case with technology, there seems to be a huge gap between the technical reality and user perception across the key distinguishing attributes of the two access networks.”

The Cisco IBSG survey indicates the market is on the verge of a “new mobile paradigm” in which WiFi and mobile networks are seamlessly integrated and indistinguishable in the mobile users' mind.

Almost 60% of consumers surveyed were “somewhat” or “very” interested in a proposed offer that provides unlimited data across combined access networks for a flat monthly fee. Taylor says the main perceived benefits are lower costs and unlimited data, signalling the end of uncertainty about coverage charges.

More than one-quarter of those surveyed liked the location flexibility, reliability, and seamless transfer between networks that this proposition offered.

Taylor says SA is in a position of being able to integrate networks to provide what the market has shown it wants, what he calls “new mobile”.