FIXZR

Mobile operators are currently very keen to encourage you not to consumer their services. SMSs and emails are being sent to inform you how to roam onto WiFi, not just at home, but wherever you find it. This unmanaged* ‘offloading’ is helping operators delay investments in their own network (and delaying the hopes of Femto cell salesmen everywhere). As a result, the mobile device is now becoming an occasional visitor to the mobile broadband network, reducing Operators’ potential visibility of user behaviour and all the value that could be derived from it. OTT service providers will have greater consistency of engagement should this trend continue, undermining the long-term value potential of Operators.

On a different note, the use of open WiFi (as the easiest way to let users ‘roam’ onto WiFi) may accelerate the use of end-to-end encryption, further damaging the value potential of Operators. Innovations like Firesheep will quickly either reduce the use of open WiFi networks or encourage greater HTTPS usage by major websites.

* The offloading is unmanaged in the sense that operators are not involved in the authentication process, nor are they able to see the traffic being delivered over the access network.