A new Wi-Fi data analytics solution from Cisco is set to bring location-based services closer to reality
BY KTP Radhika
It is now quite common to see people accessing the Internet and applications through Wi-Fi networks at places such as hotels, cafes and airports. More and more devices are now getting Wi-Fi enabled, with the number expected to reach 2 billion globally as per an estimate by ABI Research. In India, statistics on Wi-Fi are not easily available but some estimates suggest that the country has about 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots as of 2012.
This is certainly not a significant number for a country as large as India. One of the key reasons for relatively lower Wi-Fi penetration in India—especially in public hotspots—is that operators and service providers have not been able to monetise their investments in technology and equipment.
Now a new tool from Cisco Systems can help companies create new monetisation opportunities through Wi-Fi. It helps companies analyse real-time user activities on their Wi-Fi networks and offer location-specific information. This information can be especially helpful for firms in retail, hospitality and healthcare sectors to offer more localised and targeted services to customers.
Based partly on technology from ThinkSmart Technologies, which Cisco acquired in September this year, the new analytics features are incorporated into the latest version of Cisco’s Mobility Services Engine (MSE). The vendor offers MSE as part of its Unified Access solution.
What sets the solution apart, according to Cisco, is that it will provide organisations with indoor venues the type of information that GPS can offer in outdoor locations. With millions of square feet of large-format retail space operational in India and more getting developed, this could prove to be an attractive proposition to offer location-based services such as nearby restaurant listings and customised ads.
Sujai Hajela, Vice President and General Manager, Cisco’s Wireless Networking Group, said, “The influx in mobile devices provides enterprises with unique ways to transform the end-user experience. With rich radio frequency innovation in wireless networking infrastructure and new indoor hyper-location capabilities, we are providing powerful business benefits.”
At a time when operators are struggling with issues around lack of spectrum in the licensed bands, the option to leverage the Wi-Fi spectrum—which is completely free—for location-based services can come as a welcome breather. And of course, as an additional source of revenue.
“Wi-Fi has become common in personal mobile devices and the technology is improving every day,” said Purushottam Kaushik, Senior Vice-President, Service Provider, Cisco India and SAARC. “Robust carrier-grade Wi-Fi networks have the ability to outperform even 4G networks and are secure.”
Another advantage is that companies can offload a lot of data throughput from 3G networks to the Wi-Fi network. “Data requirements are increasing at a high rate and top service providers such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are focusing on Wi-Fi to offer high-speed data services to their end customers,” said Kaushik.
However, service providers need to look at how they can make money out of it. “They just don’t want to become a pipe. This solution will help service providers to make more money,” said Kaushik.
Making it work
So how does the solution work?
“When you connect the analytics platform around it, you can leverage both access hardware and the packet core and can offer multiple services to the customer,” Kaushik explained. With this system, MSE now has the capability to include Network Services Discovery, which lets businesses use their Cisco Wi-Fi networks to detect and engage with device users connected to the network. Also, the location analytics offer real-time location information. There is also a Mobile Concierge software development kit (SDK) to make it easier for programmers to create apps and services for MSE.
Cisco is in partnerships with mobile chip vendor Qualcomm Technologies to offer exact indoor location capabilities on mobile devices, while ensuring interoperability with Cisco’s Wi-Fi infrastructure. Qualcomm will embed Cisco’s firmware in its latest chipset and devices, which can tap signals when they are in range. Kaushik said, “This collaboration provides a better indoor location capability in venues with Cisco Wi-Fi infrastructure, as well as enhances service discovery, provides greater context, and delivers a better mobile user experience.” The company is working with NSN, IBM and Wipro as its go-to-market partners in India.
Globally, Cisco has piloted the new system in a few places, including Copenhagen Airport and the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. In India, the company is talking to service providers and large enterprise customers to deploy it. And if it is able to meet the challenges of security and complexity, we should see Wi-Fi in a whole new avatar. Watch this space.
