Carriers embrace WiFi

IS WIFI GROWTH AT THE EXPENSE OF 3G?

As WiFi-enabled smartphones continue to grow, WiFi hot spots are also taking off across the country. AT&T’s strategy has been to expand its WiFi footprint to wherever its customers go, Whiteside said, especially in places where consumers often spend extended periods of times and have high-bandwidth utilization. In addition to its recently announced Barnes & Noble relationship, AT&T provides free WiFi hot spots at college campuses, including a recent launch at the University of South Carolina, expansion in Starbucks, hotels, airports and stadiums. In some cases, as with AT&T Park in San Francisco, the carrier provides content that can only be accessed over WiFi. At AT&T Park, the first professional sports venue to provide WiFi, the Giants deliver instant replays over WiFi that Whiteside said the Major League won’t allow to be transmitted over wireless networks.

The result of these two forces – WiFi-enabled smartphones and hot spot access, compounded by the migration to 4G technologies – could ultimately be that wireless operator’s expensive 3G networks become less necessary. To date, carriers are focusing on making the technologies complementary, as with Sprint’s announcement yesterday that it would begin selling dual-mode WiMax-EV-DO versions of Novatel’s MiFi personal hotspot. But, even Verizon has stated that when LTE comes online, 3G will likely be the first network to get turned off. Jarich said that even if the technologies were to move from complementary to competitive, it would be a long-term phenomenon. That said, while WiFi alone might not be enough to make 3G obsolete, when 4G comes to market, it will be a different playing field.

“In 5 to 10 years, we’ll be in place where there is lots of overlapping 3G networks, 2G networks, femtocells, WiFi, then throw in a bunch of 4G networks as well,” Jarich said. “The question is how do you manage to connection on a user-by-user basis to make sure you maximize the experience for everyone?  That is going to be pushing some people into WiFi, some into femtocells, some to 3G or 4G, and it becomes a very complicated solution. But, I argue there is a place for all of it. That is where we end up having to be if we really want to make the most of the spectrum out there and deliver the best experience.”