If you haven’t noticed, Wi-Fi is overtaking cellular as the primary wireless data connection.
Wi-Fi surpassed cellular as the primary carrier of wireless traffic in 2014, according to Alcatel-Lucent (News 
- Alert), and it is expected to carry more than half of all wireless traffic within the next two years.
This is because of video largely. Roughly 55 percent of smartphone owners and 61 percent of tablet owners use TV apps on their devices at least once per month, according to Parks Associates (News - Alert). Wi-Fi is the better choice for such high-bandwidth content, and overall there are roughly 10 billion devices worldwide that connect via Wi-Fi.
This presents opportunities for cable MSOs. As noted in an Alcatel-Lucent strategic white paper, Multiple System Operator (MSO) Wi-Fi®: Solutions to enhance the connected lifestyle, cable operators have the opportunity to be first-movers in the global migration to Wi-Fi First if they move fast, given their Wi-Fi infrastructure.
“Originally, MSOs positioned their residential Wi-Fi devices as conduits just for connecting devices to the Internet,” noted a TechZine posting by Nicholas Cadwgan, Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent titled, Cable MSO Wi-Fi enhances customer lifestyles. “But now Wi-Fi has become the primary home networking medium.”
In many cases cable MSO’s residential Wi-Fi gateway also is serving as a hotspot for public access in community Wi-Fi applications.
This is important, because community Wi-Fi can help cable MSOs lead the way in the emerging voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi) trend where calls and rich communications services seamlessly work across both cellular and Wi-Fi connections.
“The emergence of VoWi-Fi technology gives MSOs another opportunity to use their residential APs to deliver a comprehensive package of advanced rich service experiences to their subscribers,” noted Cadwgan. “By launching a VoWi-Fi service that leverages their deployed Wi-Fi infrastructures, MSOs can allow consumers to choose Wi-Fi as their primary option for voice calls, as well as all other data, video, and multimedia services.”
Cable MSOs have little time to waste, however; cellular carriers have spotted the trend, and 18 of the top 20 cellular carriers worldwide now have publicly committed to deploying Wi-Fi hotspots for VoWi-Fi and things like improved mobile video experience.
Full integration of small cells with hotspots has yet to be achieved by cellular carriers, but that is coming soon.
So now is the time for cable MSOs to grab the first-mover advantage when it comes to Wi-Fi. The competition is advancing fast.
Edited by
Peter Bernstein
