Mobile Offload Might be a Top-3 Value Provided by Fixed Broadband Networks

By some estimates, as much as 60 percent of all mobile broadband traffic consumed by users of smart phones will be offloaded to the fixed network, by about 2017,

By that point, only 40 percent of the 90,000 Petabytes of data generated by smart phones, feature phones and tablets  will reach the cellular network by 2017, as majority of the data traffic will use a Wi-Fi network, according to a study by Juniper Research.

That statistic could lead one to conclude that a vital role for fixed networks of the future is  mobile offload, since, if Juniper Research is correct, the overwhelming majority of mobile device traffic will move over a fixed access network, with a Wi-Fi “tail circuit.”

One might conclude that video entertainment also will be among the top-three reasons for buying high speed access. Video entertainment likewise will be one key reason for people to buy high speed access, even if they do not use PCs or the Internet. 

They might not use PCs or the Internet, but they do watch TV. In fact, it long has been true that the long term way to drive high speed access penetration to nearly 100 percent is to shift TV distribution to the Internet.

That explains why Fon, the global Wi-Fi network, will be working with Deutsche Telekom, the leading German telco, to build Germany's largest Wi-Fi network, which will launch in the summer of 2013.

“WLAN to go”  will create what is said to be the largest public Wi-Fi network in Germany. Separately, U.S. cable operators are working to bulld a seamless national network of cable-affiliated hotspots, while Verizon and AT&T both offer nationwide hotspot services as well.

KPN also has partnered with Fon in the  Netherlands. As part of that deal, KPN customers will share a portion of their own home bandwidth in exchange for free access on shared broadband connections of other KPN broadband customers in the Netherlands and Fon customers in other countries.

Belgacom , Belgium’s largest telecommunications company, has a similar deal with Fon. In addition to WiFi access in Belgium, Belgacom internet customers will get global access to the hotspots of Fon’s global WiFi network.

Oi, the Brazilian service provider, is working with Fon on a project in Rio de Janeiro.

The point is that TV delivered over the Internet will provide a reason for people to buy high speed access, even when they don't use PCs or the Internet, as such. On the other hand, one already can note that many people who "don't use the Internet or PCs" actually rely on smart phones.

Add smart phone connectivity to TV and high speed Internet access obviously becomes the foundation service for all fixed networks.