Three key aspects of Wi-Fi offload

There are three main aspects of Wi-Fi offload that need to be addressed in order for service providers to
benefit from offloading data traffic from 3G/LTE to Wi-Fi. The Aptilo Wi-Fi offload solution helps service
providers address these aspects in a cost-effective, holistic and pragmatic way.


Wi-Fi offload: Building Wi-Fi footprint for
offloading
Whether mobile operators choose to partner with existing Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs),
build their own Wi-Fi offload 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 100 service providers in 70 countries since 2001.

The Aptilo Service Management Platform™ provides a highly scalable carrier-grade public Wi-Fi solution
that includes enhancements for Wi-Fi offload, making it ideal both for operators that want to build their
own Wi-Fi footprint and for those that just want to roam with wireless Internet service providers
(WISPs). Third-party Wi-Fi networks can easily be incorporated and benefit from Aptilo’s value-added
functionality for Wi-Fi offload, 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 Wi-Fi hotspot system with support for a wide array of business models, B2B services and payment
options.


Wi-Fi Offload: How to get devices to
select Wi-Fi and authenticate
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/4G data connection to a Wi-Fi
network as soon as it is in range. Typically they will also remember the Wi-Fi networks to which they’ve been
connected and automatically try to reconnect to them. The network selection mechanisms will be further
improved with the future 802.11u standard, providing a totally seamless selection of Wi-Fi offload networks
without any user interaction.

Laptops will not automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network and will need some type of connection manager
to make this process automatic and seamless for the user.

Connection managers can also be used in mobile phones to provide a more intelligent Wi-Fi offload
experience where policies decide where and when offloading from 3G/4G to Wi-Fi and vice versa should
occur. The policies to control this mechanism – as defined in the latest 3GPP standards – are handled by the
Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) which communicates policy decisions to the
connection manager. The ANDSF can retrieve policy decisions from the Policy Charging and Rules Function
(PCRF). Since this standard is still in an early stage,  there are many proprietary and semi-proprietary
solutions on the market from different client vendors. The flexibility in the Aptilo Service Management
Platform™ to define new logic and add new interfaces makes it ideal for early adopters of intelligent ANDSF-
based Wi-Fi offload.

Once the device has selected the Wi-Fi network, the subscriber must be authenticated to be admitted to the
network. The authentication must be as seamless as possible in order to maximize the business case for
offloading. The best way to obtain an automatic and seamless user authentication to the Wi-Fi offload
network is to utilize EAP/SIM-AKA authentication. This SIM-based authentication also adds another layer of
security (requiring support for 802.1x), making the Wi-Fi network as secure as the 3G/4G network. However,
it is very important to support a number of alternative authentication methods because not all devices can
handle EAP/SIM-AKA. Thanks to our deep experience in the Wi-Fi market, Aptilo supports a multitude of
authentication methods including SIM authentication.