49 / 84
(Japan 78%, U.S. 74%, U.K. 89%,
Brazil 97%). The same research
reflects an opportunity for operators
to capitalize on VoWi-Fi to improve or
expand their coverage area. Fifty-two
percent of subscribers in Brazil believe
VoWi-Fi offers a way to improve
service in areas where they have poor
or no cellular coverage.
Three out of four subscribers would
use a secure VoWi-Fi service if it was
available in their area. And many
- from 38 percent in Japan to 82
percent in Brazil - reported that they
would make more or longer calls over
secure Wi-Fi connections. Brazil’s
high percentage is probably due to
the fact that they still have a large
base of prepaid calling customers
and see VoWi-Fi as an opportunity to
minimize the use of their plan minutes
when calling over Wi-Fi. In addition,
Japan may just be happier with their
current service overall than the other
countries. Or it is due to a larger base
of unlimited calling plans and their
passion for texting.
With regard to call continuity, a
large majority of consumers in four
countries expect their calls will
smoothly and successfully move from
their cellular network to Wi-Fi when
Wi-Fi is available. Only a very small
percentage expected their calls to
drop when moving between Wi-Fi
and cellular networks. This is really
an important area to focus on for the
operators. If handoffs between the
networks are not smooth and calls are
dropped, trouble tickets into the call
center will be increasing. Consumers’
perception (true or otherwise) is that
the handoff is the operator’s problem,
not the public or home Wi-Fi network’s
error.
The perception of se
curity is borderline
and based on consumer experiences.
Even though a high percentage of
the consumers in the four countries
believe there is enough security on the
Wi-Fi networks (such as those outside
of the home or workplace) for voice
calls, security does continue to be a
major concern. Consumers will not
use Wi-Fi when they have concerns
regarding security. For an operator
offering a secure connection using
Wi-Fi, this will be a differentiator.
Introducing VoWi-Fi presents service
providers with an opportunity to
add value to their VoLTE launches
and solidify their WLAN strategies.
By incorporating VoWi-Fi into their
network infrastructure, service
providers can also offload aggressive
video call traffic onto Wi-Fi to preserve
capacity for LTE data services. This
increases network efficiency and
frees up capacity for more revenue
generating services. It also gives
service providers the opportunity to
reduce costs for subscribers, thereby
increasing customer loyalty and
reducing churn.
As optimistic as all this sounds and
to get the full benefits of VoWi-Fi,
service providers must overcome
some significant challenges:
•
Service continuity:
Moving calls
between 4G LTE and Wi-Fi can create
service disruptions because of IP
address changes. Possible impacts
include the failure of call handovers
between VoWi-Fi and VoLTE, the need
to reinitiate enterprise VPN sessions,
and disrupted file downloads.
•
Service consistency:
Customers
expect consistency in service offerings
across any network - whether LTE or
Wi-Fi. Generally, network voice and
video are not securely accessible from
Wi-Fi today. Therefore, content may
be susceptible to snooping, and the
core network of the service provider
could be exposed to public IP access.
By utilizing the service provider’s
inherent network capabilities to
offer seamless service continuity
and consistent experience, service
providers have an opportunity to
further differentiate their offering
from the competition.
Alcatel-Lucent and Motive can help
service providers make a smooth
transition into VoWi-Fi. To learn
more about improving the customer
experience of VoWi-Fi, watch this
interview by Yves Tjoens, Vice
President Research & Development.
Furthermore, join our on-demand
webinar or read our bonus white
paper to discover current market
research findings and trends related
to VoWi-Fi.
CJ Platino, Senior Marketing Manager,
IP Platforms and Vivian Chan,
Integrated Marketing Assistant, IP
Platforms, Alcatel-Lucent
49 l New-Tech Magazine Europe