Changing Mobile App Profile Changes Value of Wi-Fi

Back in the mid-1990s, many speculated about whether Wi-Fi, in the form of public hotspots, actually could be a rival to mobile networks for untethered access. 

That did not emerge at the time. But times have changed, and key among the changes is the fact that voice is only one of several key applications used frequently on a mobile device.

So the practical question is no longer, as it once was--”can public Wi-Fi compete with a mobile network? Instead, the new question is “for which applications can a public Wi-Fi network be a viable substitute for a mobile network?”

That is a different question from asking whether private Wi-Fi can be a functional substitute for as much as 60 to 80 percent of any user’s requirements. That already happens when people are at home or at the office.

Mobility still is key for voice, texting and true on the go access. But most of the actual content consumption tends to happen when people are untethered within their homes, but not actually in transit.

In other words, though public Wi-Fi still is not such a good functional substitute for voice or texting on the go, public Wi-Fi and private Wi-Fi are relatively good substitutes for many forms of content consumption.

These days, perhaps only 10 percent to 20 percent of total mobile device usage, for all apps and purposes, actually happens when people are “on the go.” All the rest of the usage is in untethered mode at locations where there is Wi-Fi access.

The actual value of the mobile network is provided in the 10 to 20 percent of the time when users actually need to use voice, texting or interact with content, while “on the go.” But most of the time, users can default to local Wi-Fi.

So, to return to the original questions, whether Wi-Fi networks can displace the mobile network depends on the apps used, the locations used and the relative advantages of shifting consumption.

As so often happens in the communications business, the current solution is a hybrid approach, using Wi-Fi first, and then switching to mobile only when Wi-Fi is not available as the primary access connection. Republic Wireless is among the best examples of that approach. Scratch Wireless provides another example.

As a practical matter, mobile service providers increasingly are adopting the same approach. That is one reason why Taqua, for example, has announced general availability of its “Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) Virtual Mobile Core” that integrates carrier voice and messaging using Wi-Fi access.

Taqua’s Virtual Mobile Core VoWiFi solution enables carriers to offer voice and messaging services over WiFi networks, while keeping the experience exactly the same as if it was a cellular call.

So the issue increasingly is not about whether Wi-Fi or mobile networks are “best” for communications and apps. The new issue is how to use each.