Wi-Fi deployment gains momentum
Growing number of people with advanced smartphones and wanting to stay connected facilitating rapid adoption
free high-speed public Wi-Fi service was unveiled at Mumbai Central Station by RailTel in partnership with Google in January. In Karnataka, BSNL set up a high-speed Wi-Fi service at 20 popular spots last week. In November last year, Facebook said it was partnering with BSNL to create 100 Wi-Fi hotspots in rural India.
Not surprising, considering the increasing number of connected devices and clogging of airwaves.
In September 2014, 3G data consumption surpassed 2G in India. Between January and December 2014, there was a 114 per cent increase in 3G data traffic, says Nokia Networks’ MBit Index study 2015. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, the number of mobile internet users in India is expected to be 314 million by next year, up from 173 million in December 2014.
Among the players in this emerging domain is an 11-year-old Sunnyvale, California-headquartered company, Ruckus Wireless. Riding on cutting-edge technologies and burgeoning business opportunities, the company has seen rapid growth. In the most recent quarter, its operating income grew 46 per cent Q/Q and revenue by 16.4 per cent Y/Y.
One of the challenges networks face is ‘interference’, caused by radio frequency signals from devices nearby. A way to get around it is BeamFlex, says Selina Lo. “It’s a first of its kind adaptive antenna technology that fights interference and maximises signal coverage throughput and network capacity. It can steer every packet to a path that has the least interference in real time.”
Security is another issue. Ms. Lo says Cloudpath is more secure as it is encrypted and not password-based.
“When a device signs on, we do a one-time authentication. After that, the network will push a certificate on to the device. It can be managed by the company that runs the Wi-Fi. They can revoke it or specify the duration of the contract.”
A rapidly growing market like India is wide open for adoption, says Mini Vasudevan. “What is important is product differentiation and effective solutions.” Ajay Srivastava says Ruckus, one among the top Wi-Fi companies, has made investments in India and is a key partner in large projects initiated by telecom firms.
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Source:Thehindu
