Verizon follows AT&T into Wi-Fi offload and tiers

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Verizon follows AT&T into Wi-Fi offload and tiers

But claims Wi-Fi is not key part of network capacity, and prefers to invest in LTE, going beyond current 3G footprint

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 20 May, 2011

Verizon Wireless has added a layer of detail to its plans to manage the data storm on its networks. It may be well ahead of AT&T in adding the capacity and speed of LTE, but in other regards it is copying its arch-rival - turning to Wi-Fi offload, and killing unlimited data plans.

Tony Melone, Verizon's CTO, opened up on the new tactics during his keynote address during the TIA 2011 show. He also stressed that the telco now regarded its wireline and wireless broadband systems as "all one network now", and pointed to cloud computing services as a way to generate new revenues across both.

He said Verizon Wireless would soon "be implementing Wi-Fi strategically" to add new capacity for wireless data subscribers with bundled deals, and to offload traffic from 3G and even LTE. This is a strategy AT&T has been following seriously for some years, especially since it invested in hotspot network Wayport. And cablecos, notably Cablevision, have been active users of Wi-Fi to provide wireless connectivity as added value for their users. But Verizon has been far slower to tap into the rise of dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi devices, except for a free Wi-Fi offering for residential broadband customers with a connection of 3Mbps or higher.

Verizon remains vague about the timing and precise roll-out of Wi-Fi, but confirmed it would offer free access to hotspots for mobile and fixed broadband customers in future. It said it would particularly focus on areas of high mobile broadband traffic - classic hotspot locations such as hotels and campuses. For its residential scheme, it already has a network of 5,824 hotspots, most run by partners, and many well outside Verizon's wireline territory. It now seems that these will be opened up to wireless users too, but it may have to seek new locations too - its system is dwarfed by AT&T's 24,000 hotspots, all free to its data subscribers. AT&T has also moved into full hotzones, which cover districts of heavy traffic such as New York Times Square and San Francisco's Embarcadero shopping complex. When the cellco extended free Wi-Fi to mobile broadband customers, its sessions increased from 20,000 in 2008 to 85,000 in 2009, and last year it saw 107m sessions in the first nine months.

Verizon's conversion to Wi-Fi suggests it is experiencing increasing strain from smartphone data, partly because of its iPhone launch, though Melone insisted this only applied in specific spots of heavy usage, such as stadiums. "We just can't get our capacity in there," he said, but he denied that Verizon wanted, or needed, to use offload extensively to augment total network capacity - a favorite tactic for many cellcos. He argued that the investment in LTE would make this unnecessary and argued: "In my mind it's much better to invest in your 3G or 4G network."

He remained aggressive about LTE build-out, repeating previous claims that coverage would be so good by 2013 that Verizon would already be selling some 4G-only devices during that year. The cellco has decided not to invest in voice fallback from 4G to 3G - although this means some calls will drop when users move outside LTE coverage zones, the scale of the roll-out means this should be a rare problem, Verizon has said. It plans to have the Voice over LTE technology in most 4G devices next year. Melone added, at TIA, that the LTE footprint would be extended beyond that of CDMA EV-DO - which covers nearly all the CDMA voice areas anyway - because of spectrum leasing and roaming deals with rural carriers. The rural 4G program should add a further 2m POPs to the network. Verizon will also add LTE in some areas where it currently offers 2G but not 3G (EV-DO) - the first such market is Morgantown, West Virginia.

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