Growth in mobile network traffic is staggering: Driven by the onslaught of devices that are now connected to the Internet, mobile data traffic is expected to grow three times faster than fixed IP traffic, exceeding 6 exabytes per month by 2015, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index. This presents service providers (SPs) with a tremendous opportunity to invest in Wi-Fi services to create carrier-class Wi-Fi experience and increase revenues.
While specialized providers have operated commercial Wi-Fi hotspots for nearly two decades, most SPs see Wi-Fi as a fairly new business. To understand the implications of Wi-Fi on SP operations, Cisco® IBSG interviewed a number of SP executives. Following are some of the key insights, which are further discussed in “Wi-Fi for Service Providers: Challenges and Opportunities for Carrier-Class Operations”:
Basic Wi-Fi service coverage expansion is still the main driver—Even among established Wi-Fi SPs with a large number of hotspots, the average yearly increase in access points is 14 percent.
As we prepare to help host the upcoming Wireless Broadband Alliance Wi-Fi Global Congress in our own backyard in San Francisco, I’ve found myself reflecting on how far we’ve come with advancing the standards around Next Generation Hotspot.
Planning to go to the World Series this year? If you are lucky enough to attend, think about using your mobile device to enhance the experience.
Last month, my colleague used an iPad during our team outing at a San Francisco Giants game to watch his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals, live via streaming media on Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV app. Thanks to the Cisco network infrastructure and Wi-Fi technology deployed in AT&T Park, he was able to catch both games simultaneously.
Down in Southern California, while unfortunately the San Diego Padres didn’t make the playoffs – one thing is for certain – this season Petco Park Stadium saw a trend with the increase in mobile device usage at games by their fans.
Recently I took a weekend trip to Sea Ranch, California, a coastal town 2.5 hours drive north of San Francisco. What was interesting (besides the great view and interesting architecture) was for three days there I had no cellular coverage on my mobile phone, but I was able to get access to the internet using Wi Fi in various locations. Being the classic connected and mobile consumer, my trip would have been much less enjoyable without some form of wireless connectivity
Cisco IBSG Retail Director Edward Westenberg recently published a paper on the impact of consumer mobility and what retailers should do to respond to the trend.
Peggy Casey, Cisco retail industry manager sat down with Edward to discuss his latest research and four areas of mobility that retailers should address:
Microsoft will launch Windows 8 in late October. Along with a slew of other features, it will be among the first to support the 802.11w standard to protect Management Frames for client devices on Wi-Fi networks.
Customers running old Cisco unified releases (between 4.2 to 7.2) in local, Flex or mesh mode will run into an interoperability bug (CSCua29504, to be exact) that prevents 802.11w enabled clients from connecting to a Cisco WLAN with Management Frame Protection (MFP) enabled. This bug does not affect customers running autonomous access point deployments or customers running Cisco unified releases older than 4.2.
What are the possible solutions for you?
1. Please upgrade your production environment to one of the following releases, which will interoperate with Windows 8.
7.3.101.0
7.2.111.3
7.0.235.3
2. Roll back to pre-windows 8 drivers as identified in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article.
3. Fall back to TKIP
4. Sign up for a beta release for Cisco’s upcoming feature release 7.4 (beta available now!) that supports the 802.11w feature in local mode.
By Tony Verspecht and Luiz Lima, Cisco 
Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG)
