Wi-Fi as Substitute for Mobile Networks: Internet Access is the Difference

Wireless networking is at an inflection point where it can completely replace wired networking everywhere but the data center," said Robert J. Pera, Ubiquiti Networks CEO. 

Allowing for a bit of hyperbole, we are probably once again at a point where observers are going to speculate about whether Wi-Fi networks can compete with or displace mobile networks. That debate is not as robust as it once was. 

It might not be too early to suggest that such displacement does not make as much sense for voice networking or messaging as for Internet access, where use of fixed access by mobile devices primarily for Internet access is a rather common occurrence. 

In fact, Cisco has speculated about the growing relevance of Wi-Fi for several years, in particular because the ways people use the Internet on mobile devices makes Wi-Fi a preferred and normal access method, something that is not quite so true for voice and messaging communications. 


Cisco has predicted that Wi-Fi IP traffic will represent 46 percent of all IP traffic in 2015, while mobile IP (using the mobile network) will account for about eight percent of total traffic.


As early as 2010, more than 55 percent of all global public Wi-Fi hotspots offered free access to users. 

Also, mobile service providers are starting to embrace Wi-Fi as a meaningful part of their overall network access plans, shifting traffic to Wi-Fi to protect bandwidth needed for fully mobile activities. 

In fact, Cisco estimates only 16 percent to 20 percent of mobile device Internet access operations actually happen when people are "on the go" or "out and about." Fully 80 percent of the time, mobile devices are used in the home, in the office or some other indoor location where Wi-Fi will suffice for Internet operations. 



Perhaps oddly, mobile remains the foundation for "always connected" voice, messaging and apps, while Wi-Fi increasingly supports extended Internet sessions and media consumption. 

Mobile's value remains its "always connected" feature, but Wi-Fi access increasingly handles most of the place-based "mostly connected" Internet requirements. 

One feature of Ubiquiti's UniFi 3.0 software is "Zero Hand-Off Roaming." As the name implies, the feature allows users on UniFi networks to roam seamlessly from access point to access point, as is a key feature of mobile networks. 

But some ISPs in the future might give much more attention to whether an Internet-access-optimized network is viable and sustainable, compared to full mobile networks. As mobile service providers provide their own Wi-Fi networks, or contract to use other big Wi-Fi networks, might the reverse happen?

Might big Wi-Fi network operators buy roaming on mobile networks, for the times when Wi-Fi users really want fully mobile Internet access? And, if so, does that make Wi-Fi a full substitute for "mobile networks?"

as early as 2010, hugely significant percentages of total device access used the fixed network (Wi-Fi) rather than the mobile network,  Analysys Mason has argued.

Proportion of mobile network traffic that is generated indoors, by region

Ironically, just as 4G is starting to narrow the gap between mobile broadband and fixed broadband, users--perhaps reacting to the higher cost of mobile broadband--have been using Wi-Fi as a substitute for mobile access. 

That works because most “mobile device” Internet access happens at home, with a significant percentage at other locations where it is possible to default ot Wi-Fi access.