WiFi providers Boingo are investing heavily into new technology that promises to change the way travelers interact with WiFi on the road.
These Next Gen Networks, or Next Generation Hotspots, will allow seamless shifting between cell signal and WiFi, eliminating the often frustrating need to manually select a WiFi network when cell signal is spotty.
The new "Passpoint" technology facilitates a more delicate load-balancing for heavily trafficked areas, allowing for faster data speeds with much lower infrastructure investment. Known as "carrier off load," these new networks will provide relief to overburdened cell data networks by taking some of that load away and placing it on WiFi.
A recent report looking at the potential of these new WiFi networks sees the technology as a savior for carriers facing data-ravenous customers:
Once a pariah among wireless data networks, WiFi has emerged as a legitimate “other network” option for mobile operators. Granted, subscribers have to be within about 300 feet of a WiFi hotspot, or within a metro WiFi hotzone, but carriers are looking hard at “WiFi Offload” as a way to not only provide their customers with high-quality, reliable wireless data, but also to relieve some of the congestion on their 3G mobile data networks.
So as carriers see both the service and cost savings of WiFi offloading, providers like Boingo are stepping in to provide the capacity. This makes sense, as carriers must pay to deploy and manage their own networks.
WiFi providers can offer another safety valve, especially in venues - like airports - that contract with them to offer WiFi venue-wide. Standards are being pursued, such as Hotspot 2.0, that allow a standardized access to WiFi networks for data offloading.
In their contribution to the topic, ABI Research highlights how the opportunity is creating a massive runup of vendors seeking to capitalize - and dominate - the nascent market for enhanced hotspots.
Industry bodies like the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Broadband Alliance are pushing for standard specifications like Hotspot 2.0, which would make Wi-Fi connectivity more seamless and easy to use. The vendor market place is getting interesting as well, with both traditional Wi-Fi vendors and non-traditional ones. Wi-Fi hotspot providers and cable operators with a Wi-Fi footprint are also aligning themselves around this opportunity.
By providing WiFi-based offloading, vendors such as Boingo will also create a better end-user experience with increased speeds and more flexibility in highly populated spaces.
This means travelers could experience faster, more reliable speeds to take better advantage of highly engaging and developed apps - an opportunity for travel app makers coming up against the realities of reduced cellular data capacity due to networks strained by increased smartphone adoption. Tnooz explored this new technology in a series of questions to Katie O'Neill, Communications Manager at Boingo.
In layman's terms, what is the significance of this new WiFi network?
In basic terms, this is the first public hotspot to turn on the new Passpoint technologies to help simplify roaming via industry standards. This is significant in that it will provide the first real world testing location for Next Generation Hotspot and Passpoint technologies, and may ultimately accelerate adoption of these protocols by wireless carriers and venues.
While this first commercial Next Generation Hotspot network launch will have little impact on most consumers in the short term – even those traveling through O’Hare – the Next Generation Hotspot protocols will ultimately offer significant benefits to consumers, as well as mobile carriers and venues.
Please explain the direct benefits of this new technology.
For consumers, Next Generation Hotspot will offer the following benefits:
- Easy connections: Next Generation Hotspot holds the promise of making accessing Wi-Fi as simple and seamless as cellular. When a consumer has a device that is Passpoint-certified (like a Samsung Galaxy S4) they can use a Passpoint profile to enable the device to connect and authenticate on its own. Their carrier may also elect to offload them to a Passpoint-enabled Wi-Fi network, delivering a fast and secure connection.
- Secure connections: The Passpoint connection process uses enterprise-class security methods to verify the service provider and establish a WPA2 encrypted connection, with no user action needed. Before a user even takes their phone out of their pocket, they are connected and secure – much like the connection experience on a private home network.
- Data plan savings: Consumers who use a Passpoint profile, or are seamlessly offloaded by their carrier using the standards-based approach implemented by their roaming provider, will experience the benefits of Wi-Fi: fast, reliable connectivity that doesn’t count against their cellular data plan.
For carriers, Wi-Fi offload will help relieve congestion on their networks and ensure that their customers have the best possible connectivity experience.
With consumer data consumption and device proliferation projected to increase, seamless offload protocols will be increasingly important to carriers. For venues, like airports, a Passpoint-enabled network can create a passive revenue stream through increased roaming activity, and improve customer satisfaction because of the seamless user experience.
How does this help speed of service in areas with large volumes of people accessing data?
We’ve all had the experience of our smartphones, tablets or other Wi-Fi enabled devices slowing down to the point that they become unusable when we’re at the airport, a stadium or concert or even just walking through a crowded area of town.
Next Generation Hotspot protocols will allow carriers to offload traffic from their cellular network to Wi-Fi, with a secure connection, and without any user action needed. This will help the impacted cellular network perform better, and will provide consumers seamless access to Wi-Fi, which provides a high-speed connectivity experience.
In a carrier offload model, many customers will automatically connect to the airport’s Wi-Fi network instead of to 3G or 4G networks and their carrier will pay for that connection, helping create that passive revenue stream from the hotspot and ensuring that many customers will enjoy a secure Wi-Fi experience.
Overall, more people connect and more people have a seamless, secure Internet access experience, increasing customer satisfaction, decreasing complaints and mitigating risk.
However, to launch a Passpoint-enabled network, airports may need to upgrade to Passpoint-certified equipment. Boingo has been updating its managed and operated networks in anticipation of the roll-out of Next Generation Hotspot protocols.
Is this paid or subsidized in any way by consumers, or is this an enterprise-level product that WiFi providers in large venues will be implementing?
It depends. We will eventually roll this into our retail consumer products, but for now, it is mostly available to carriers and Wi-Fi operators for testing or for their customers to roam onto. Some of them bundle this into their current broadband/mobile broadband packages at no extra cost to their customers, but some of them sell Wi-Fi bundles separately.
How is this the world's first commercial Next Gen hotspot?
Advanced Next Generation Hotspot trials have been taking place in labs with some of the world’s largest carriers for more than a year – this is the first time that is available live in a public venue. The Boingo Next Generation Hotspot network at Chicago O’Hare is the first live Passpoint-enabled network in that it has an active WPA2 protected network that is available for roaming using the Passpoint and NGH features.
Please explain the various related terms: Boingo Passpoint, Passpoint technology, and Hotspot 2.0.
“Boingo Passpoint” is simply the Boingo Passpoint SSID, or network name.
“Passpoint” technology is the Wi-Fi Alliance’s trademarked brand designating that a hardware device has passed interoperability testing against the Hotspot 2.0 technical specification. Any hardware devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, access points) that pass the testing for the Hotspot 2.0 specification compatibility receive Passpoint certification.
Those devices with Passpoint™ certification include the necessary technologies to enable seamless, secure connections. These technologies provide several advantages over current public Wi-Fi implementations:
- Secure access:Passpoint connection process uses enterprise-class security methods to verify the service provider and establish a WPA2 encrypted connection.
- Seamless connects:For carriers who utilize Passpoint to enable offload for mobile data users, the mobile device can identify roaming-enabled networks from the radio broadcast itself, allowing the device to automatically connect to Wi-Fi and authenticate without user intervention.
- Standards-based offload:Most mobile carriers are looking for standardized ways to implement Wi-Fi offload solutions, instead of having to support myriad one-offs. Hotspot 2.0 provides the foundation for a unified approach, increasing participation by carriers.
Hotspot 2.0 is a technical specification from the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) -- the global organization that oversees Wi-Fi interoperability certification. Hotspot 2.0 serves as the foundation for seamless, secure connections to Wi-Fi networks using a combination of Wi-Fi standards that can fundamentally change public Wi-Fi access.
The Hotspot 2.0 technical specification requires several key technologies (primarily IEEE 802.11u and IEEE 802.1x) to enable seamless, secure access.
Next Generation Hotspot is an initiative within the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) — the global organization for Wi-Fi network operators — to enable public Wi-Fi networks for seamless, secure connections using Passpoint-certified hardware, and network integration best practices defined by the WBA and its members.
This initiative leverages a standards-based access method for mobile carriers to offload smartphone users from 3G/4G networks to local Wi-Fi networks to better meet the exploding demands for mobile data. The GSMA — a global organization for GSM-based cellular operators — has been actively involved with the Next Generation Hotspot and Hotspot 2.0 efforts to help facilitate Wi-Fi data offload for their mobile carrier members.
What impact does this new technology have on travel brands, venue managers, airlines, etc?
As noted above, the impact won’t be immediate. Carriers will need to start implementing the roaming protocols, venues will need to ensure that their networks have received Passpoint-certified hardware or firmware upgrades, and handsets like smartphones and tablets will need to be Passpoint certified as well.
Handset manufacturers are already showing support, including Samsung with its Galaxy S4. Apple also announced earlier this summer that iOS 7 would feature Hotspot 2.0 specs.
Ultimately, Next Generation Hotspot will provide venues with a new passive revenue stream and provide patrons with the best possible connectivity experience, improving customer satisfaction.
NB: WiFi at airports image courtesy Shutterstock.