Heterogeneous networks have been brewing for a few years now, but 2015 will be the year they become mainstream as several core components reach maturity. The starting point came with mobile network operators offloading data to Wi-Fi in order to avoid a capacity crunch on their backbone networks, while exploiting the superior economics of broadband infrastructures and, almost as a byproduct, in many cases giving their customers a better quality of experience. Now, offloading is evolving into “traffic steering,” as parallel cellular and Wi-Fi networks continue to converge and devices become capable of selecting intelligently between them. This is a crucial development for the HetNet since it brings Wi-Fi and cellular networks together as coherent partners with complementary strengths and capabilities within a defined network policy that lets operators segment their user base, offering premium service tiers.
The advent of traffic steering highlights a vital element that has been missing from many early HetNets, which is client software capable of cooperating closely with the respective networks to maximize experience continuity while optimizing costs for the operator. This has required simultaneous progress on the client software, network infrastructure and operational fronts from specialists in the field ,and some operators have already taken advantage. Now the final pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, which means that more MNOs can contemplate deployment of robust HetNets that really do work as a single seamless infrastructure giving users the smartest connected experience wherever they are.
As a result, operators can now hand down rules on policy from their business support systems through the network for enforcement on the client device. Such a rule might specify that live video will always be routed over the best possible connection, while less urgent traffic such as e-mails or text messages should take the slower route. Real-life scenarios could be more sophisticated; taking account of varying traffic conditions and the status of the user’s device, so that Wi-Fi could be turned off when the battery is low and the user is away from home. Smart analytics will be employed increasingly on the client to give operators a clear view of the experience the user is currently getting as well as the status of the device. This will augment the existing analytics from the network so operators can achieve a true end-to-end view at the service level as a basis for intelligent decisions over traffic steering and potentially creating multiple subscriber segments.
There is one other important aspect of a HetNet that is sometimes forgotten in this age of asynchronous communications and that is voice. People still do like talking on the phone, especially when traveling, so a HetNet is only truly worthy of the name if it enables voice calling over Wi-Fi as well as cellular. That deficiency will also be remedied during 2015 as more MNOs deploy consistent packet-based telephony services that work equally well over Wi-Fi in public places such as airports, with transparent handoff to and from cellular as the user roams. For voice too, the HetNet can select the best available network, a significant benefit given the problems with the poor coverage in and around buildings suffered by many users of cellular services.
During 2015, the ability of HetNets to deliver experience continuity – consistent, always available service spanning both voice and data – will be a telling competitive advantage for operators.
Lonnie Schilling brings 20 years of experience of equity investment, strategic business development, architecture sales and marketing within the international communications market. He was most recently director, mobile service provider sales and business development at Cisco, and has also held leading management positions in other global companies such as Motorola, ITT, Worldview Technology Partners, Bolt Beranek and Newman. Schilling holds a B.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland. He completed graduate and postgraduate studies at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, the International Institute for Management Development, INSEAD and the Marshall School of Business at USC.
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