By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
‘Wi-Fi offloading’ has been a thing for a decade or more but managing the quality of a combined Wi-Fi & cellular service has thus far been holding many operators back from committing fully to a ‘Wi-Fi offloading’ strategy. This has now changed thanks to new technology from Sweden-based Enea. Get the insights on November 11 by signing up and participating in Enea’s brand new webinar on this topic (9 am or 6 pm sessions available).
‘Wi-Fi offload’ is once again a hot topic – with a handful of successful companies now offering offload-type services (usually auto-connect Wi-Fi using SIM-authentication and optionally a Passpoint profile) as way as to create excellent indoor coverage for mobile devices.
Such services are compelling alternatives to the much more costly DAS or small cells solutions required to deliver good indoor 5G coverage. But one issue remains: What happens if you hand over a connection to a less than adequate Wi-Fi (or mobile) network?
Generally speaking, operators do not have visibility on the local quality of service when it comes to handing off traffic to Wi-Fi and back. Since the devices makes the decision in Wi-Fi it may even prefer a Wi-Fi connection over 5G even if the 5G quality is good. So the issue is somewhat complex.
Enter what Enea calls Intelligent Rightloading – of which there are in essence two kinds: Predefined traffic steering based on policies (including preventing Wi-Fi connections for some user groups) and historical data and Real-time QoE-based traffic steering. In the latter case thresholds can be set to block Wi-Fi connectivity if the mobile session for a user is good. It is also possible to integrate with the Wi-Fi infrastructure to get quality information from the Wi-Fi network. This approach is unique and unprecedented in the world of Wi-Fi – and could represent a breakthrough for operators that are laser-focused on delivering the right QoE to their subscribers.
Want to know more? Don’t miss two chances at getting all the details in a deep-dive, webinar format on “QoE-based Intelligent Traffic Steering across Mobile and Wi-Fi networks” offered by Enea on November 11 at 9 am CET or November 11 at 6 pm CET. Don’t miss it – highly recommended.
/Claus.
