LAS VEGAS — Even before T-Mobile kicked off its Wi-Fi unleashed campaign yesterday, the meeting rooms at CTIA’s Super Mobility Week were buzzing with conversations about unlicensed spectrum. Wi-Fi equipment makers and service providers were a major presence here, and makers of cellular network equipment also wanted to talk about Wi-Fi. But some said the carriers are just beginning to embrace Wi-Fi as a coverage and capacity solution.
“The wireless carriers are playing a little slow. … I think they’re afraid of impacting their existing consumer base,” said Boingo Wireless CTO Derek Peterson, speaking before T-Mobile US’ announcement. Peterson said the cable companies have been much more aggressive on the Wi-Fi front. “They’re really pushing hard and they’re pushing out a lot of Wi-Fi, which is a good thing for the industry,” he said.
“A lot of the cable companies are pushing this Wi-Fi first concept forward,” said Devicescape CMO David Nowicki. “I think that it’s exciting to think about the likes of Iliad and Telenet and so forth in Europe, that have actually gotten 10 or 15% market share of wireless. It’s interesting to think about … the U.S. What if somebody’s able to go into the mobile sector as a cable provider and actually get that kind of penetration?”
That’s a question that may be keeping some carrier executives awake at night. T-Mobile US is clearly unwilling to let cable operators stake the first major claim to Wi-Fi voice calls in the United States. The carrier says all its new smartphones now support Wi-Fi calling, including the new iPhone 6.
“Apple is doing what they do, they’re really being a disruptor and I think that’s good,” said Boingo’s Peterson. “Wi-Fi calling has been out for a while, through T-Mobile and Sprint. I think the iPhone supporting it, I think it’s great, it’s going to end up helping to push this along and really enable it.”
Wireless infrastructure providers are well aware of the exploding demand for Wi-Fi. This week at CTIA Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia all announced new small cell solutions that integrate Wi-Fi, and Genband introduced a new wireless access gateway that backhauls Wi-Fi traffic as well as cellular traffic.
Velocitel CEO James Estes told us this week that large enterprises and venues are looking for “industrial strength Wi-Fi” as the number of users and devices proliferates. Infrastructure providers are already gearing up for this — Tessco Technologies’ Ventev was showcasing Wi-Fi antennas that can be mounted on stadium rails, and access points that can be installed beneath stadium seats.
