RCRWireless
Date: September 17, 2013
Las Vegas, NV. – The Competitive Carriers Association has struck a deal with Devicescape to make the company’s curated network of Wi-Fi hotspots available to subscribers of its carrier membership. Devicescape says it has curated the world’s largest virtual network of high-quality Wi-Fi hotspots. The company has a cloud-based platform that analyzes connection-related data in real time, paired with client software that handles network detection.
Customers of carriers working with Devicescape can connect to Wi-Fi using an app, or if the carrier chooses, the experience can be transparent for the user. Device-based software can find and connect to Wi-Fi hotspots automatically to offload traffic and maintain a good connection. Devicescape says it expects CCA members to use both approaches.
“For the mobile operators, Wi-Fi can provide some critical relief for congested 3G and 4G networks,” said Iain Gillott, president and founder of market research firm iGR. The firm projected last year that the amount of carrier-driven Wi-Fi offload, measured in petabytes per month, will grow at a CAGR of 215% between 2012 and 2017. Meanwhile user-drive Wi-Fi offload, meaning that the subscriber actively connects to a Wi-Fi hotspot, was projected to grow at a CAGR of 49% during the same period.
Globally, the number of public Wi-Fi hotspots is projected to grow from 1.3 million in 2011, to 5.8 million by 2015, according to research published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), and compiled by Informa Telecoms and Media. Large carriers are busy deploying their own Wi-Fi access points, but for smaller mobile operators the shared Devicescape solution makes sense. “Partnering with Devicescape to extend their unique and powerful services to our member carriers has the potential to bring significant value to their subscribers and bottom line,” said CCA President and CEO Steven K. Berry.
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