Mobile Carriers Embrace Both 3rd Party Wi-Fi and Owned Wi-Fi Network Models
The explosive growth in mobile data applications and resultant broadband traffic has placed mobile operators in a challenging position. Network capacity is being taxed to the limit, threatening to degrade the user experience, while growth in data revenues has proven insufficient to offset the decline in voice revenues. So, while network upgrades would seem imminent and unavoidable, there's no clear revenue growth justification for a huge CapEx outlay. Meanwhile, there is a high cost and huge risk associated wth doing nothing.
With much of this increased data traffic directly attributable to dual-mode smartphones and tablets featuring both 3G and Wi-Fi access -- with the iPhoneTM and iPadTM perhaps representing the original vanguards of this movement -- many mobile operators are now looking at Wi-Fi networks as a way to offload data from their 3G infrastructure. Offloading can forestall the requirement for expensive mobile network upgrades while delivering a positive user experience. Initially, mobile operators relied predominantly on third-party Wi-Fi providers. While that model is still in place, increasingly we see a trend towards mobile carriers building and operating their own Wi-Fi networks in order to more effectively manage both the network quality and brand experience of their subscribers. When you consider that the key reason for using Wi-Fi to offload 3G data is to deliver a better user experience, the rationale for owning the network becomes clear.
As mobile carriers look to deploy their own Wi-Fi networks, they bring their carrier-grade network expectations to the traditionally residential and enterprise-grade Wi-Fi market. Most Wi-Fi access points (APs) are not built as carrier-grade products, and their operating system software and network management are, at best, enterprise-grade. In some cases, even enterprise grade APs are effectively a product line extension from a residential offering, as vendors struggle to enter new markets in order to remain viable.
BelAir Networks Wi-Fi networking products have been built from the ground up to be carrier-grade. That's why leading cable and telecom service providers trust BelAir Networks in their most demanding deployments -- including the largest Wi-Fi networks in North America comprising thousands of BelAir Networks nodes. And, it's not just the robust, compact APs that are built to carrier-grade specifications. BelAir Networks operating system software (BelAirOS) integrates seamlessly with the service provider's back office infrastructure to facilitate service provisioning, and ease deployment and operation while reducing networking commissioning and upgrade costs. And managing the network couldn't be easier with BelView Network Management System (BelView NMS), a comprehensive Wi-Fi network management package that leverages the latest GIS-based mapping and GPS information to facilitate the set up and management of Wi-Fi networks of all sizes, even up to 50,000 APs!
BelAir Networks Wi-Fi products are the logical choice for mobile carriers looking for a cost-effective way to offload data traffic, without offloading customers.
BelAir Networks offers:
- Carrier-grade Wi-Fi products for both indoor and outdoor coverage -- with seamless connectivity supported as users move between indoor and outdoor environments
- Carrier-grade operating system that integrates with the service provider's back office infrastructure
- Carrier-grade GIS-based network management system -- easy to use and scalable up to 50,000 APs