With Wi-Fi now becoming an expected service by consumers, telecom operators have a new avenue in driving increased revenue sources.
The following is a familiar scenario to many:
You are home after a busy day at work, ready to settle into your evening routine of rest and relaxation with the latest series of “Orange is the New Black” waiting for you on Netflix. When you press play, all you see the dreaded spinning wheel of buffering doom. And suddenly that evening of relaxing gives way to one of frustration.
But who is to blame? You begin by cursing your laptop, then move on to protesting at your Wi-Fi router but then quickly decide to pass your grievances to Comcast, or AT&T, or whichever provider handles your internet and your router. But what are your options for fixing residential Wi-Fi?
Today, we depend on Wi-Fi for a large number of our everyday tasks. With Wi-Fi often seeming ubiquitous, the inability to get it, or at least good quality Wi-Fi, is topping the lists of most commonly cited annoyances. Unfortunately, as the number of devices continues to grow, congestion – especially in densely populated urban areas – is only set to worsen as individual users consume an increasing amount of data and connect increasing numbers of devices to Wi-Fi access points.
More often than not, when poor coverage occurs in the home it is likely that the average consumer has little idea as to why their router fails. Nevertheless, they are left alone to try and fix the issue in a bid to get the quality they desperately need. Unlike so many other services, the responsibility for resolving residential Wi-Fi issues is the responsibility of the consumer.
In recent years, this has led to consumers purchasing their own enhanced routers or extenders in the hope of improving their existing connection. Solutions such as Eero and Netgear’s Orbi are sold at a premium price, but despite the cost this option still requires the consumer to manage their own router in their own time.
Nevertheless, this move towards DIY-enhanced routers and extenders demonstrates how important Wi-Fi is in the home. The sort of solution that would previously be limited to experts and hobbyists is now mainstream. According to Arris, 72% of consumers considered Wi-Fi vitally important in every room of their house. Just as consumers want electrical sockets in each room, they now demand Wi-Fi everywhere. They would not expect to head downstairs with their charger to find a socket, and neither do they expect to have to move in order to get a good Wi-Fi signal.
This willingness to pay for better Wi-Fi services also shows that operators are passing on a golden revenue opportunity if they are unwilling to better manage their residential services. Simply put, if consumers are willing to pay an extra $300 for a Wi-Fi router, which they then still manage themselves, then those same customers are likely to be just as happy paying extra for guaranteed quality of service and quality of experience from their service provider.
Care needs to be taken, however, in how such a service would be offered. Internet service providers find themselves in a bit of a tricky situation. While the new devices and services being offered suggest that consumers are willing to take on the burden of managing Wi-Fi, this doesn’t mean service providers are not being held responsible for poor Wi-Fi. A recent survey by Procera Networks found that, bizarrely, more than half of consumers blame their mobile carrier for poor Wi-Fi – not the provider of Wi-Fi. By stepping up and offering to fix a problem as an add on, service providers run the risk of taking responsibility for an issue they are not currently being blamed for. This, of course, may change as consumers get savvier about issues. But unless the offer is presented carefully, consumers may mistake management as a way to bilk money from a consumer paying for what they see as a substandard service.
Ultimately, however, it’s clear Wi-Fi cannot be left to its own devices and be expected to “just work.” For service providers looking to capitalize on this revenue opportunity, only one solution exists: automated Wi-Fi management and optimization. Especially for less technically minded consumers, this hands-off approach is the only way that a managed home service could work. By ensuring visibility over the Wi-Fi network, operators can provide best-in-class customer service by avoiding network congestion, assuring smart coverage and automating fixes across the network. Not only will this improve QoE – but it will also considerably reduce customer churn as consumers will be happier with the service they receive. In addition, this end-to-end network access will give operators greater visibility over subscriber use as well as a positive relationship with the consumer. These two elements allow for the cross-sell and up-sell of services according to individual consumer need supported by a reliable, high performance home Wi-Fi network
If, on the other hand, service providers decide not to manage Wi-Fi, they will in time be in a lose/lose situation. They will be blamed for a poor experience and others will get the revenue for fixing it. There may be some risk in managing consumer Wi-Fi, but this short-term risk is minor when weighed against potential long-term losses.
Editor’s Note: In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this Reader Forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we maintain some editorial control to keep it free of commercials or attacks. Please send along submissions for this section to our editors at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
