Mobile traffic offload to Wi-Fi networks is a...

cellular networks such as LTE, UMTS or WiMAX over alternative access network technologies that use shorter transmission ranges and operate in frequencies that may or may not be exclusively accessible by the network operator. Alternative access to wireless broadband is usually based on “small cells” such as Wi-Fi hotspots or femto- or picocells, it said. Key distinguishing features of offload are that some aspect, either spectrum or backhaul, isn’t under the mobile network operator’s control; and that in the nature of the end-user device, it’s reasonable to assume that the traffic would have been sent over the macro cellular network if it hadn’t been offloaded, it said. Traffic on mobile networks is mushrooming, driven by takeup of smartphones and tablets, the report said. The “visible growth in macro cellular mobile network traffic appears to be only the tip of a much larger iceberg,” it said. The volume of traffic already offloaded, mostly to Wi-Fi in the home, already exceeds that of the mobile network and is expected to grow even faster, it said. Europe’s Wi-Fi market is very mature, with more than 70 percent of households in some countries already having a Wi-Fi access point, it said. Most of the offload is on to private, mainly home, Wi-Fi connections, but this situation is likely to change in the next few years as more is offloaded to public Wi-Fi hotspots, it said. Another major development is community-based public Wi-Fi access, which allows participating subscribers of partner network operators to access other subscribers’ access points, it said. One “strong message” is that Wi-Fi and licensed small cells are complementary to each other, not substitutes, it said. That’s reflected in growing market interest in “hetnets,” or heterogeneous networks, that combine cellular and Wi-Fi access in the same base station hardware, maximizing the use of available spectrum and devices that can be served while lowering costs by using common backhaul and other site infrastructure, it said. The largest socioeconomic benefit of traffic offload is in cost savings for mobile network operators, which can then be passed on to consumers, the report said. It estimated savings in network costs generated in 2012 for the 27 EU countries to be 35 billion euros ($46 billion), with projected savings in 2016 to be 200 billion euros. Relatively little action is needed now at the European level, the report said. Among other things, it recommended that the EU: (1) Seek to make spectrum from 5150-5925 MHz available globally for Wi-Fi. (2) Continue to try to make 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz fully available for mobile use. (3) Consult on future licensing options for 3.5 GHz and other potential new licensed mobile frequency bands. (4) Examine administrative barriers to mobile and offload deployment. Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said she will “make sure the European Commission helps to spread use of Wi-Fi through extra spectrum and lighter regulation."