Wireless blog: 14% of service usage will be delivered by Wi-Fi and femtocells by 2014

Indoor systems will support an increasing proportion of total service usage on mobile devices, with WiFi access points and femtocells deployed more widely. Indoor wireless systems will be a core part of the delivery platform for 3G operators and they will use both WiFi and femtocells to deliver services through fixed broadband connections.

By the end of 2014, the proportion of service usage delivered using these systems will be 13.1% for 3G USB modems and datacards, 11.2% for smartphones and 15.4% for basic phones.

Proportion of service usage delivered by WiFi and femtocells, 2008-2014

At first sight, these proportions may look relatively small. This is because we have assumed that WiFi access points and femtocells will not be deployed universally and some indoor service usage will be supported by sideloading.

About the author:

Dr Alastair Brydon has produced more than 40 reports on wireless telecommunications. He is co-founder of Unwired Insight.