Indian telecom network operator Tata Teleservices has revealed its main focus areas for making investment.
Making investment in upgrading the infrastructure and building out a convergent network with 2G / 3G assets, improving the customer experience via app and portal investments and piloting platforms and services like NGN and VoWiFi are the key focus areas for Tata Teleservices.
Tata Teleservices is also managing Wi-Fi services at venues such as DIAL, BIAL and AAI Airports, Starbucks, Connaught Place and Taj Hotels. “These hotspots are backed by our own fiber network and carrier grade design, deployment and 24X 7 NOC and support,” said Natraj Akella, vice president – Wi-Fi Services, Tata Teleservices.
“Since the bandwidth is unlicensed, we must continuously optimize the radio network to deliver uninterrupted high speed internet speed,” Natraj Akella said.
As per a report by market research company Informa Telecoms and Media, public Wi-Fi hotspot numbers are set to grow from 1.3 to 5.8 million globally in the next four years.
Tata Teleservices already has 1 Gbps network at BIAL and significant bandwidth at DIAL. Starbucks have on average have 5x bandwidth. “We believe this is the right strategy and really the future. We are in it for the long term. Investments will follow our strategy,” Natraj Akella said.
India has only a handful of high speed public Wi-Fi hotspots. Many of those in the market, especially in cafe’s actually have rather limited connectivity infrastructure on broadband and do not give better experience. Low speeds combined with OTP based authentication system are serious impediments to Wi-Fi adoption.
Tata Teleservices aims to remove challenges through investments in fiber backhaul with dedicated lease line connectivity, app etc. The telecom operator is trying to enhance customer experience through Tata Docomo WiFi Wizard app.
India hotspots trends
India needs a minimum of one million hotspots to meet the current demands. Tata Docomo has already established Wi-Fi hotspots across the country and is providing public Wi-Fi services at high-footfall areas across India which includes top airports in the country, Connaught Place in New Delhi, popular stadiums, educational institutes, retail chains and cafes etc.
Wi-Fi calling
Call drops have long since plagued the Indian consumer and telecoms alike. More consumers are using Wi-Fi to connect their mobile phone to Wi-Fi networks where operator’s signal is weak, ensuring the conversation is completed. That includes Wi-Fi connection at home or public hotspot like Connaught Place, Starbucks.
Wi-Fi calling is in its infancy in India but operators such as Tata Teleservices are trying to be the first of many to offer it as an option. Wi-Fi calling is taking off with more commercial launches and new devices with Wi-Fi calling, operators can extend their voice service indoors so consumers can make calls in their homes over their own Wi-Fi access points, using any Internet Service Provider (ISP). Wi-Fi will soon become an important part of indoor mobile coverage.
Wi-First
A Wi-Fi First smartphone connects to Wi-Fi whenever it is available for voice, messaging, and data services. It only accesses mobile networks when Wi-Fi is not available. At the same time Wi-Fi operators will thus have an opportunity to own the customer relationship and win the battle for consumer attention, while ultimately creating new revenue streams..
Wi-Fi Roaming
Wi-Fi roaming on a grand scale is the order of the day as a rising percentage of wireless data travels over the unlicensed-band technology, and as a wide range of service providers put Wi-Fi at the heart of their networks.
Over the next couple of years, a nationwide roaming agreement will provide access to thousands of hotspots and homespots. However, considering that public Wi-Fi in India is very limited in its reach and quality and is only available point-to-point in very selected areas, operators would mainly focus on creating a nationwide network of cable co-deployed hotspots.
Emergence of Digital Villages
The smartphone penetration, in addition to improving networks, is helping data surge in the entire country, especially the rural areas. Though, right now the focus of public Wi-Fi remains on the urban cities, rural is the next frontier for us. By the year 2019, Digital India program of the Government of India (GOI) envisages that 250,000 Indian villages will enjoy broadband connectivity, and universal phone connectivity.
Splurge in Voice and Video
In the next 12 months, the number of people using Wi-Fi to make calls and send video will continue to increase. Mobile carriers have significantly increased their Wi-Fi footprint, and the most advanced Wi-Fi enabled phones now offer seamless in-call switching between 4G and Wi-Fi networks.
Sync. Connect. Repeat
Storage synchronization with popular cloud-based applications such as Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud will increase dramatically during 2017, as will the amount of Wi-Fi-enabled IoT traffic. Even basic home and office devices such as printers, which used to rely almost exclusively on wired connections, will make the move to wireless.
Tata Docomo has partnered with Tata Communications to establish Wi-Fi services. The optic fiber infrastructure provided by Tata Communications is expansive and reliable allowing for seamless connectivity via the Wi-Fi network.
Business challenges
There are two most important pre-requisites in providing public Wi-Fi services. Firstly, the ease of connection that is the number of steps that a customer must take to connect to Wi-Fi. We have made sure to keep this process as simple and easy as possible.
Tata Teleservices has simplified the process to enable customers’ quick and effective entry into Wi-Fi. Throughput is one of the main measures of QoS (quality of service) in addition to latency and jitter. The throughput speed must be of a certain minimum threshold level to satisfy customers by providing through a fixed line backhaul or fiber backhaul.
The last mile fiber availability needs to be addressed. Service provider must pull the fiber from the nearest point to the hotspot location and that involves certain clearances with the various civic bodies and so on and so forth.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
