View this recorded webinar to learn from Nordic carrier TeliaSonera’s ten plus years of experience in building the largest carrier Wi-Fi network in the region, with more than 25.000 access points deployed utilizing automatic SIM-based authentication for mobile devices.
Let your 3G infrastructure investments take a rest!
Let your 3G infrastructure investments take a rest!
Today nearly every mobile operator has a Wi-Fi strategy. Why?
Reduce investments in 3G infrastructure
Reduce investments in 3G infrastructure
The cost of producing data in Wi-Fi is only 10% of the cost of doing so in the 3G network (Source: one of our mobile operator customers). Adding capacity with Wi-Fi will save 18% of the expansion cost if 20% of the data traffic is offloaded to Wi-Fi.
Provide what customers are asking for and reduce churn
Provide what customers are asking for and reduce churn
Both subscribers and devices tend to try to connect to Wi-Fi whenever it is in reach and some applications are only available in Wi-Fi mode. Mobile operators need to follow their subscribers into the Wi-Fi environment.
How to get there
How to get there
Aptilo’s Mobile Data Offloading solution makes offloading to Wi-Fi seamless both for the subscriber and the mobile core.
It provides multiple authentication methods including SIM-based authentication and features innovative alternatives for integrating with the mobile core for policy control and charging – all while having a minimal impact on existing systems.
Learn more about the Aptilo Mobile Data Offloading solution here.
Why Mobile Data Offloading to Wi-Fi?
Why Mobile Data Offloading to Wi-Fi?
For years mobile (cellular) telephony subscribers have been used to mobile broadband at an affordable price, in many markets even for a flat fee per month regardless of usage. That worked well until the beginning of the “iPhone era”. Additionally, more and more devices such as laptops and tablets like the iPad come with a built-in mobile data broadband connection and the expectation of being able to download e.g. HD video from anywhere, at any time. While some mobile operators urgently need a cost-effective way of satisfying the ever-increasing hunger for more bandwidth, this is not the only driver for mobile data offloading. As devices with built in Wi-Fi do better in the Wi-Fi networks (with speeds up to 300 Mbit/s) than in the 3G network - especially indoors - mobile operators need to be able to follow their subscribers there.
Mobile data offloading to Wi-Fi can reduce cost
Mobile data offloading to Wi-Fi can reduce cost
By offloading users from the 3G network to Wi-Fi networks with local break-out to the Internet, the mobile operator can add more capacity in an affordable and flexible way. We have seen operators that have built Wi-Fi networks proactively in areas with heavy mobile broadband usage such as universities – and reaped the rewards of reduced cost and lower churn due to a better user experience.
Alternative offload solutions that only focus on bypassing the packet core gateways in the mobile core will only decrease the load on these nodes and not offload the entire network including the Radio Access Network (RAN). Using femtocells for offloading is a way of building the 3G radio network cost-effectively, but does not provide the option to increase the footprint quickly through partners as Wi-Fi does. Additionally most Wi-Fi-enabled devices try to establish a Wi-Fi connection as the first choice whenever available and some applications such as Apple’s FaceTime and iCloud can only be used on Wi-Fi. It is no surprise that carrier-class Wi-Fi has rapidly gained interest and priority among mobile operators globally.
Three key aspects of mobile data offloading
Three key aspects of mobile data offloading
There are three main aspects of mobile data offloading that need to be addressed in order for service providers to benefit from offloading data traffic from 3G to Wi-Fi:
Building a Wi-Fi footprint that is adapted for offloading.
How to get the devices to select Wi-Fi for a seamless user experience.
How to interact with the mobile core for authentication, policies and charging.
The Aptilo Mobile Data Offloading solution helps service providers address these aspects in a cost-effective, holistic and pragmatic way.
Building Wi-Fi footprint for offloading
Building Wi-Fi footprint for offloading
Whether mobile operators choose to partner with existing Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), build their own Wi-Fi network or both, they all share the same challenges. Either way, they can rely on Aptilo Networks’ vast experience delivering proven carrier-class Wi-Fi service management and policy control solutions to more than 120 customers in 50 countries globally since 2001. The Aptilo Service Management Platform™, Aptilo Service Portal™ and Aptilo Access Controller™ provide a highly scalable carrier-grade public Wi-Fi platform with adaptations for offloading ideal for operators that want to build their own Wi-Fi footprint. Third-party Wi-Fi networks can easily be incorporated and benefit from the value-added functionality for mobile data offloading giving the operator full flexibility in building their own footprint and/or cooperating with WISPs.
A multitude of Wi-Fi service provider roaming interfaces have been technically verified through the Aptilo platform, including leading roaming aggregators and brokers such as iPass, Boingo, Trustive and WeRoam.
For operators that want to monetize their Wi-Fi networks beyond the offloading aspect, Aptilo offers a best-in-class hotspot system with support for a multitude of business models and payment options.
How to get the devices to select Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones with advanced operating systems such as Android, BlackBerry, Apple’s iOS and Windows Mobile will generally automatically try to move over from the 3G/LTE data connection to a Wi-Fi network as soon as they are in range. They will generally also remember the Wi-Fi networks that they have been connected to and try to automatically reconnect to them.
Laptops will not automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network and will need some kind of connection manager to make this process automatic and seamless for the user.
How to authenticate users in the Wi-Fi network
SIM-based authentication is the best practice for authentication for mobile data offloading as it utilizes the same mechanism as in the 3G/LTE network making the authentication process seamless and secure for the end-user. An automatic authentication process in combination with smartphones’ tendency to prioritize Wi-Fi over 3G/LTE connections will ensure a high rate of offloaded users.
The Aptilo SIM Authentication Server™ authenticates users based on the information retrieved from the HLR or HSS in the mobile core in accordance with the 3GPP AAA functionality.
The Wi-Fi network must support the 802.1x in order to deliver SIM credentials to the SIM authentication server which gives the additional benefit that the Wi-Fi link will be encrypted with the same level of security found in the 3G/LTE network. The security and the automatic authentication process make the Wi-Fi network a trusted extension of the 3G/LTE network. Together with the new IEEE 802.11u standard the SIM-based EAP-SIM/AKA authentication has become the foundation of the next generation hotspot – Hotspot 2.0, as defined by the Hotspot 2.0 Task Group in the Wi-Fi Alliance.
SIM-based authentication is still possible in legacy Wi-Fi networks not supporting 802.1x by using a WiSPr 2.0 client in the device. Learn more about this in the Aptilo SIM Authentication Server section.
There are about 800 million new Wi-Fi devices activated every year and far from all will have SIM-cards. Mobile operators will need alternative authentication methods to support these customers all the way.
Aptilo supports a multitude of alternative authentication methods – download our Mobile Data Offloading Solution Feature Brief here to learn more. Alternative authentication methods supported include:
Authentication via “My Pages” credentials – lookup via Aptilo Intelligent Database Interface™
If security policy allows, authentication using pre-provisioned MAC-accounts
Authentication through one-time password via SMS
Self-signup by user with verification via SMS
Authentication via a client in the device
Manual login by user
Applying policies to the Wi-Fi user session
Operators may need to set policies in order to control the service and charging for offloaded users (in addition to those in the 3G data network) and maintain a fair usage policy.
Applying policies from mobile core via Aptilo Intelligent Database Interface: It is possible – via the Aptilo Intelligent Database Interface (IDI) in Aptilo’s Mobile Data Offloading solution – to intelligently map different policy decisions implemented at the mobile operator to the corresponding parameters in the Wi-Fi network. Policy decisions can be looked up from any database at the mobile operator that supports SOAP/XML, LDAP or RADIUS.
Policy decisions can include:
Allowed locations for access
Volume/time limitations
QoS
Prepaid or post-paid
Type of user
In the example above service level data from the CRM system is mapped to Quality of Service (QoS) parameters in the Wi-Fi network.
Applying policies from mobile core via Diameter Gx interface: Mobile operators may have an existing PCRF for handling policy and charging decisions. These decisions are then communicated via the Diameter Gx interface to the packet gateway node (GGSN / P-GW (PDN Gateway) / DPI nodes) which enforce the policies in the 3G network. In Aptilo’s mobile data offloading solution the policies from the PCRF are pulled via the Diameter Gx interface and intelligently converted to the corresponding parameters in the Wi-Fi network to the extent of the capabilities of the specific Wi-Fi network.
These parameters can be standards-based RADIUS WiSPr attributes that just give some basic bandwidth (QoS) control or Aptilo’s proprietary service profiles for advanced bandwidth control.
Examples of advanced QoS features are the Aptilo Automatic Bandwidth Balancer function where all available bandwidth is evenly distributed among active user sessions, or the Aptilo Dynamic Bandwidth Throttling feature where a user gets a “bucket” of data and bandwidth is automatically and gradually throttled down as the “bucket” is consumed. The policy converter in Aptilo’s solution will be designed also to enable mapping and translation of policies to the specific attributes from vendors such as Aruba, Cisco and Motorola utilizing their proprietary advanced QoS control.
Applying policies from the Aptilo Service Management Platform: The Aptilo Service Management Platform (SMP) features an optional policy control application that has been proven in large-scale Wi-Fi deployments globally. Mobile operators can provision it with policies for the Wi-Fi users via Aptilo’s CCS API or manually via GUI.
Also, polices for 3G usage can be defined and applied through the Diameter Gx interface in Aptilo’s policy control application (PCRF). Read more about this in our 3G/LTE section. In this manner Aptilo’s offloading solution is broadened in scope to become “right-loading,” applying tight policy control regardless of whether the user is connected to 3G or Wi-Fi. It is possible to combine this with Aptilo’s optional pre-integrated prepaid and portal functionality.
Billing of the user in the Wi-Fi network
Depending on the business model the mobile operator may want to bill users in the Wi-Fi network or deny access if their prepaid accounts are depleted.
Prepaid billing: For prepaid billing, the optional built-in prepaid system in the Aptilo Mobile Data Offloading solution can check-out quota (credits, time and/or Mb) from the mobile operator’s prepaid system (PPS). This can be done via Aptilo’s Quota Provider API or via Diameter Gy. Usage is then reported back to the prepaid system. Alternatively Aptilo’s solution can act independently from the mobile core as the prepaid system for Wi-Fi usage and get top-up via integration with the mobile operator’s self-care portal.
Post-paid billing: For postpaid billing, Aptilo’s Mobile Data Offloading solution can send Charging Data Records (CDRs) and accounting data to the mobile operator’s billing system via Aptilo’s native billing interface or through the Diameter Gz interface.
The ultimate solution for a Diameter-based mobile core
With Aptilo’s Diameter conversion functionality, operators can transparently control and charge for services via standard Diameter (Gx, Gy and Gz) interfaces in the Wi-Fi network with the same mechanisms that they are using in the 3G network. These can still be differentiated for Wi-Fi usage.
Wi-Fi usage statistics to facilitate roaming
Even if the end-users are not billed for the service, usage still needs to be monitored for mediation and rating with roaming partners such as WISPs and roaming aggregators, and for the purpose of understanding user behavior and how much data traffic has been offloaded from the 3G networks. Mobile operators can use the purpose-built Aptilo Service Portal™ for flexible and automatic reporting facilitating mediation with these partners. Each WISP can be defined as a “zone” for easy and accurate reporting.
