With the communication service providers increasingly adopting Wi-Fi to strengthen their network efficiency – there is much more to what Wi-Fi can offer to the operator community. We are presenting some of the ways, Wi-Fi can kick-start the monetization wheel for operators.  1) Wi-Fi drives Mobile Data Offloading As operators and CSPs grapple with humongous amount of data coming in from a number of smart devices, Wi-Fi driven data offloading and onloading is fast gaining popularity and becoming a big way to ensure better network productivity and increased revenue as well. GSMA is predicting that global carriers will “lose” 85% of mobile data traffic to Wi-Fi networks by 2018. On the other hand, it also means an increased number of hotspots where Wi-Fi can be accessed. It becomes clear that Wi-Fi will play a critical role towards enhancing the coverage and service availability for operators and majority of the data traffic will be diverted onto Wi-Fi networks. Additionally, Wi-Fi can become a great tool to enhance the customer experience and hence ensure customer retention for operators. Example/s – Japanese operator KDDI aims to offload 65% of mobile data to WiFi this year 2) Wi-Fi Roaming As telecom operators look forward to providing seamless service experience to their customers, Wi-Fi roaming is picking up as a big trend and there are a number of service providers which are now formulating domestic and international roaming partnerships in order to tap this opportunity. Wi-Fi roaming is becoming a big tool that is helping operators create better differentiation and also move another notch closer to their customers. In entering into roaming agreements, service providers not only see the opportunity to enhance the customer experience, they also recognize the new monetization opportunities that it offers. Service providers can charge customers an additional fee for international roaming, or bundle it as part of an enhanced Wi-Fi or broadband service. According to the iPass International Data Roaming Survey, 98% of respondents own at least one smartphone, and over one-third (33.8%) of respondents travel with two or more. Example/s – Taking a cue from the above data, Singtel and AT&T offers data plans over Wi-Fi for roaming travellers in selected countries. 3) Wi-Fi Driven Advertising In a world of data driven converged devices such as smartphones and tablets, advertising has got a new meaning and Wi-Fi is giving it a whole new dimension by adding a factor of highly accurate analytics. With the help of Wi-Fi, much more accurate user location can be mapped when compared with mobile cellular advertising, and this makes room for designing and implementing targeted advertising campaigns, can be location centric, profile specific etc. Typically, the use of Wi-Fi is opt-in, meaning that customers are much more receptive to advertising than the alternative spam model. Finally, in addition to smartphones, people access Wi-Fi through many larger-screen, more-advertising-friendly devices like tablets. Example/s – Koh Thai Restaurant captures 445 user’s details in one month with the help of Wi-Fi driven advertising. O2 acquired Weve advertising platform to increase its targeted marketing campaigns over Wi-Fi 4) Analytics and Wi-Fi As a Wi-Fi user enters inside a venue, mall or a shopping place, real-time data analytics can play a very important role in terms of enhancing the value proposition and provide unique insights into where a user is going, the most visited places, buying behaviour, time of access etc. Additionally, trend analysis and history comparisons of data can show the effectiveness of changes in marketing of store layout. In addition to shopping malls, other large venues such as airports and stadiums can use the data to help improve operations and security. Example/s – Copenhagen Airport Improves Business Operations with Wi-Fi driven Real-Time Analytics Taking the help of Wi-Fi powered, real-time analytics from the Wi-Fi access network throughout the Copenhagen airport, today, the operations center can monitor wait times in check-in, security, and customs – all in real-time and make staffing and traffic-flow changes immediately to reduce delays. This is helping them achieve greater level of efficiency and increase customer satisfaction as well. Avenue K Mall, TCC (a Verizon Wireless Retailer), Home Decor Outlets, and Pressed Juicery – Discover Valuable Shopper Insights with Wi-Fi From TCC’s 300 Verizon Wireless storefronts to the vast footprint of the Avenue K Mall in Malaysia, ‘in-store analytics’ is driving an in-depth view into customer behaviour and engagement to optimize the in-store experience, evaluate staffing decisions, boost shopper acquisition and conversions, and increase the profit per shopper. 5) Wi-Fi in Sporting and Special Venues Whether it is a high profile Tennis match at Wimbledon or a Football World Cup fixture, an Indian Premier League Cricket match or even a politician delivering speech in a mass rally on a ground – special venue Wi-Fi driven services can considerably enhance the connectivity for users and deliver unique value proposition. Riding high on Wi-Fi – there are a lot of operators which are involved with pushing innovative services for the end user community in this segment. Such special events can create special monetization opportunities as well – imagine a situation where users are given an option to get unique video and player information before a game of IPL Cricket in India, or in other case critical information about a politician just before he begins his speech in a rally. Wi-Fi can power all this and much more. Additional services include everything from ticketing to in-seat ordering, to enabling the delivery of food and beverages at the seat only. Example/s: A leading operator in India launched Free Wi-Fi Services at Indian Premier League Cricket match delivering a congestion free data access, social media updates, live streaming and replays, placing orders online etc. Delivering seamless operational benefits on Wi-Fi, Elitecore Monetization Solution supports all the above use cases including Mobile Data offloading with seamless authentication, support roaming & partner settlement, Real time analytics, Mobile app & location based dynamic captive portal to support features such as login via social media, location specific real time notifications, advertisements based on proximity and geo-fencing, Wi-Fi roaming etc. Elitecore Wi-Fi Solution also helps operators to monetize by offering Wi-Fi at high density locations like stadiums, malls, transports etc. For more information on innovative business models Click here Stay tuned for part two of this series to learn more about ways to enable monetization with Wi-Fi.