Guest comment: Can Wi-fi really clear the way for the continued reign of Smartphones?

As more and more people trade their mobiles in for smartphones, can Wi-Fi networks hold under the strain of all the extra bandwidth these new devices use? Justin Schamotta at Chooseisp takes a closer look…


Smartphones are like other people’s VW campervans: you’re sort of happy to see them, until you realise they’ve stopped all the traffic.
The problem is that, unlike spluttering VWs, the numbers of Smartphones are dramatically increasing. Sales increased by 75% this year and the next four years are likely to see them further grow from 500 million to around two billion.
Smartphones use around five times more data capacity than yesterday’s so-called “feature” phones and networks have been completely unprepared for the onslaught, resulting in the kind of clogs that make the days of dial-up connections seem alluring (almost).
Governments and telecommunications networks are rightly wringing their hands at the thought of prematurely ending the buying-trend due to lack of internet.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), “Operators are already having to employ multi-pronged strategies to keep up with demand and not all are succeeding. In some high-usage cities, such as San Francisco, New York and London, we are still seeing users frustrated by chronic problems of network unavailability.”
The ITU says the blame lies with the governments, who need to urgently introduce the high-speed fibre optic cable necessary to provide faster data connections between networks and mobile towers.
They also need to provide greater availability of radio frequency spectrum for mobile signals. However, in Britain at least, legal objections raised by the networks themselves have already resulted in delays to the government auction of extra radio spectrum.
Microsoft and Nokia have responded to Smartphone congestion by promising theirs will be the “most friendly” to mobile operators, which seems as much a solution as claiming smaller cars will reduce traffic jams.
A wi-fi solution?
Although widely mocked when it made its first unreliable appearance, wi-fi is boldly stepping in to provide a quick-fix solution to these troubled, internet-hungry times.
BSkyB is buying up wireless hotspot provider, The Cloud, as it seeks to challenge the reign of BT, who has more than two million Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK. Since forming in 2003, The Cloud has established 22,000 hotspots in restaurants, bars, hotels and eateries such as McDonald’s and Pret a Manger.
O2 also has reassuringly large-scale Wi-Fi plans, which it claims will double the number of premium hotspots currently offered by The Cloud and BT.
O2 also seem to be the only provider truly committed to making wi-fi a boost to smartphone users rather than a novelty.
Their service will be available to anyone within range of the networks and users will gain access by first signing up online, a process that will be auto-provisioned for O2 customers.
Telefonica’s O2 was one of the earliest carriers of the iPhone in Europe, and has long been aware of the stresses its network has been under. It will be hoping the local wi-fi networks will reduce traffic on its main network.
For smartphones’ sake, let’s hope other providers – such as Virgin Media which recently announced plans for its own ‘high speed’(!) wi-fi – follow Telefonica’s lead.
This is a guest post from Choose. The site covers rights issues, research and debate into home broadband and more broadly home media and mobile markets.