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who are unable to access these technologies at home or live in rural areas , LTE is an alternative , so long as the offering is competitive with fixed broadband services already being offered .
Keeping up with the competition
Competitiveness is particularly important when we again consider how tech-savvy consumers have become . Service providers are operating in an increasingly crowded market place and endusers are beginning to shop around for the best broadband deals instead of purchasing the first package they come across as they did in the past . Value for money is becoming a commonly used phrase when addressing broadband connectivity and because customers are becoming more technologically literate , they understand exactly what the best deals are .
The concept of what good value for money equates to is also changing . It is no longer enough to offer the fastest connection or the biggest data bundle . Value for money is increasingly about quality of service and quality of experience , with customers becoming more unwilling to accept any service interruption or connection drop outs . They also expect superfast coverage across their entire home , even in hard-to-reach places such as basements or gardens . While this increases the strain on operators , those which can enable ultrafast broadband connectivity will go a long way to ensuring customer retention and customer growth through new subscriber additions .
Achieving this is not without its challenges , however , with one of the biggest being how to
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‘ With enduser demands continuing to rise , we are always looking at how we can improve further .’ |
merge the ultrafast broadband technologies on offer with the existing Wi-Fi capabilities in the customers ’ homes . Improving speeds is significant but this can be undermined if fast broadband access cannot be distributed effectively to each device and every user in the home .
Boosting Wi-Fi performance
Although Multimedia over Coax Alliance ( MoCA ) networking and broadband over powerline provide technically good ways of distributing data around the home , Wi-Fi must lead the way when it comes to end-user convenience . So how can operators ensure optimum Wi-Fi performance ?
To fully utilise ultrafast home broadband through Wi-Fi , the gateway must feature the best-inclass Wi-Fi design . This typically means dual band , four-by-four , and in some cases eight-by-eight antenna configurations . The Wi-Fi should also be thoroughly tested and optimised before launching the product , with some operators also utilising Wi-Fi access points and repeaters to ensure full home coverage . These all need to operate seamlessly with one another , which means providing software within the gateway that can monitor and manage all the different elements of the gateway is also vital when providing best-in-class Wi-Fi .
To that end , Technicolor has developed Wi-Fi Doctor and Wi- Fi Conductor .
The former enables operators to visualise the Wi-Fi performance occurring in the customers ’ homes and make suggestions to fully optimise that performance – perfect for increasing the likelihood of customer retention . Wi-Fi Conductor takes this a step
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further by enabling Wi-Fi roaming from one device to another in a seamless operation in the home .
Taking connectivity to the next level
Of course , with end-user demands continuing to rise , we are always looking at how we can improve further . As operators increase the speed of bandwidth to the home , they are realising that we are reaching a point where just having Wi-Fi integrated into the gateway device itself and expecting that to provide full Wi-Fi to the home isn ’ t enough anymore – additional investments to provide full home Wi-Fi will be required .
This is where LTE could come into play , with another challenge being the lag between customers signing up for a fixed broadband service and the activation of that service . Just as with their internet connections , customers want everything as soon as possible and offering LTE access within the residential gateway is an immediate solution to overcoming the lag phase – a huge selling point for consumers . This can be combined with other fixed line network technologies to enable operators to better participate in the endless competition for more speed .
With these synergies becoming more obvious as technology continues to increasingly integrate itself into consumers ’ lifestyles , it is looking more and more likely , that the answer to meeting the challenge to provide ultrafast broadband services will be found in hybrid network solutions that make use of all the technologies available .
For further information visit : www . technicolor . com
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July 2017 | 27 |