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Vendor Lock In in the networking industry

by | Jan 20, 2021 | Cloud Management, Networking, TanazaOS

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Vendor lock-in in networking industry

Vendor Lock-In in the networking industry


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about the vendor lock In in the
networking industry

Vendor lock-in

Vendor lock-in is the relationship of dependence established between a customer and a supplier of goods or services, such as to prevent the customer from purchasing similar goods or services from an alternative supplier without incurring high costs or significant risks.

In the fast-changing world of technology, it’s increasingly important to rely on flexible and up-to-date partners and services. For this reason, more and more companies are experimenting with next-generation services and platforms in search of the best price/performance compromise to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve productivity.

However, if performance, reliability, and cost can be considered elements to be placed on the balance, then, it’s good to pay attention to what may be the contractual or technological constraints that a particular provider imposes on the customer. This means hardware/software/cloud platforms or any other contractual and management mechanisms that can generate a real “lock-in” for those who buy a service.

Open infrastructure against lock-in logics

In the IT sector, this terminology usually implies the customer’s choice towards a service provider. This decision, often made based on downward economic considerations can, over time, prove to be more demanding than others and involve constraints that are difficult to unblock. The more a provider owns unique and indispensable elements, the more this bond becomes complex to loosen. The supplier-customer relationship is strongly biased in favor of the former.

In this way, the provider can more easily impose contractual changes, quotes, or additional parts, knowing that a possible exit would be too difficult for the customer. Despite a first, unreal advantage deriving from committing all practices to a single supplier, lock-in shows its pitfalls in a relatively long time. It can represent a severe obstacle to the efficiency of the systems. Procuring and purchasing goods and services from a single provider tends to create a monopoly situation. In these cases, it is not always the best or cheapest solution to be chosen.

As suggested in the European Interoperability Framework, it would always be desirable to better focus on open platforms. The document, which aims to improve public services’ interoperability in the European Union, emphasizes that “the Digital Agenda can only take off if interoperability based on standards and open platforms is ensured.”

Open infrastructures are the ones that least lend themselves to lock-in logics. The design of operational architectures should start from this consideration to develop models that allow the creation of reliable systems with a high rate of compatibility, portability, and maintainability. In particular, maintenance must play a fundamental role in creating procedures and systems and represents the degree to which a product or a platform can be modified and improved. Therefore, it’s possible to avoid any lock-in by appropriately studying the initial costs of service and carefully analyzing the TCO in the long term.

Problems related to vendor lock-in systems

Several factors can affect a business when they’re locked in with a particular cloud vendor:

• If a vendor’s service quality depreciates, the client will be stuck with it.
• The vendor could change their product offerings at some point so that they no longer meet a business’s needs.
• A vendor could go out of business altogether.
• A vendor could impose substantial price increases for the service, aware that their clients are locked in.

What does ‘vendor lock-in’ mean in the networking industry?

The WiFi networking market is ruled by a few vendors (Cisco, HPE-Aruba, Ubiquiti, Huawei, and CommScope —formerly known as ARRIS/Ruckus), who hold 75% of the market share. Their product offerings consist of various networking devices, such as switches, indoor and outdoor access points, controllers, and routers.

These players offer vertically-integrated solutions with their hardware running on a proprietary operating system, which works only with their products. Their intent is to set lock-in limitations with high switching costs to make their customers dependable on them. This approach progressively increases IT deployment costs for organizations, slows down innovation, and ultimately ruins the user experience.

The Legacy Networking Model

The Internet of the future will emerge from the confluence of new network concepts and combined technologies, services, and media. It will offer flexibility and variety with scalable content and services accessible through a wide range of interfaces and devices.

However, the biggest challenge nowadays is how to propose these new approaches so that they can be verified without sacrificing the current production infrastructure. Consequently, Legacy networks need to be replaced/upgraded, or refined, employing expensive network re-engineering.

Traditional internet networks result from different protocols that, in most cases, are defined in an isolated way, addressing particular issues or technological fixes. As a result, there is a stack of protocols and overlays, making network management very complicated.

Indeed, the physical network structure itself shows a higher complexity as well. Also, proprietary implementations increase compatibility issues in multi-vendor circumstances. Different vendors with proprietary protocols and specific configurations result in complex situations with clear network restraints.

Furthermore, monitoring and administering all this network equipment managed mainly in a distributed manner makes it even more complicated. The demand for better network structures has encouraged vertically-integrated companies to manufacture more hardware equipment with planned device obsolescence. This approach progressively increases costs for organizations as legacy products need to be replaced more often. The device becomes obsolete not because it ceases to perform as it should, but mainly because the software that allows managing the device stops being updated by the manufacturer.

Importance of hardware and software disaggregation for network deployments.

The vendor-agnostic system has been conceived to challenge the hardware replacement and vendor lock-in culture and shift to a sustainable and circular business model. The freedom of choice without vendor lock-in constraints brings substantial savings due to removing expensive hardware controllers in the infrastructure and on-site maintenance interventions.

The disaggregation concept embraces the open-source approach, where WiFi solution providers can decouple their hardware choice from their software choice. This trend has already been booming in other industries such as the computer and mobile markets.

Enterprises are more and more moving towards software-defined networks developed on open-standards. In the WiFi industry, disaggregation of hardware and software enables WiFi professionals to control their costs better when deploying or upgrading WiFi networks, with consistent CAPEX and OPEX savings, thanks to multi-vendor compatibility.

What role disaggregated networks will play in the rollout of 5G networks?

Cost savings and deployment flexibility are the best benefits of disaggregated infrastructures, but managing their evolution and complexity are the biggest concerns. In the Network operators view, the most significant advantage of disaggregation is CAPEX reduction, followed by OPEX savings and deployment flexibility. The most important considerations are how to manage the migration from legacy equipment to disaggregated networks and deal with additional complexity.

The evolution of next-generation 5G networks introduces structural changes in the radio access network (RAN) and a core network that will significantly impact how operators design and provision services. The WiFi network will need to meet the higher capacity and lower latency demands of 5G and flexibly adapt to diverse traffic flows to support a growing variety of use cases.

A key solution that seems to enable future networks is disaggregation.

Some operators have already started to launch 5G networks in North America and Asia, and more launches are expected in the upcoming years. The earliest deployments focus on enhanced mobile broadband services and fixed wireless access, making the first 5G services and networks much like existing ones, but with faster broadband speeds.

Afterward, 5G deployments are expected to implement more of the specified structural changes to support a broader range of services, some that require extremely low latency and high availability.

By 2025, GSMA expects to be 1.4 billion 5G connections, accounting for 15% of global mobile connections. Most of those 5G connections will mostly be in China, Japan, and the U.S.
In the current first steps of 5G rollouts, operators are already thinking about how to evolve their networks to meet new demands for capacity, latency, and a remarkably assorted set of service use cases.

When it comes to the advantages that operators expect from disaggregation in WiFi networks, the top three benefits are CAPEX savings, OPEX savings, and deployment flexibility. They are relying on disaggregation to achieve those goals but most cost-effectively and flexibly possible.
Other essential pros for operators involved are open application programming interfaces (APIs) for greater innovation, cost-efficient scalability, and support for new revenue-generating services. This suggests operators are focused not only on the potential cost savings of disaggregated networks but also on the capabilities that will bring new revenues.

On the other hand, users seem most worried about managing the migration from existing legacy devices to disaggregated networks when considering disaggregation challenges. Their next most significant difficulty is dealing with additional complexity in monitoring, configuring, and managing disaggregated network elements with a wider variety of vendors.

Tanaza, a pioneer of hardware and software disaggregation

Tanaza has developed a comprehensive and flexible WIFi cloud-managed platform for IT professionals to manage WiFi networks. At the core of Tanaza’s technology is TanazaOS, a powerful Linux-based Operating System compatible with multiple wireless access points’ brands.

Thanks to the software and hardware disaggregation philosophy, Tanaza enables users to run TanazaOS on any white-box and open-hardware ‘off-the-shelf’ Wi-Fi access point. This gives Enterprises and Carriers the power to decouple their hardware of choice from the software, with considerable cost savings and efficiency advantages.

At the same time, Tanaza software capabilities help break the lock-in barriers of vertically-integrated solutions imposed by top players brands and extend the life of devices that manufacturers purposely built to last only a few years.

Tanaza gives users the freedom to use different brands’ access points, reducing costs considerably. In this way, by reusing existing WiFi infrastructure, Tanaza enables customers to lower the network’s capital investment cost.

The Tanaza WiFi platform is compatible with multiple access points from multiple brands for indoor and outdoor deployments. Also, it has a curated selection of Tanaza Powered Devices with the Tanaza software already installed. The line of cloud-managed Tanaza Powered Devices suits a direct plug & play, out of the box experience.

Tanaza pioneered the disaggregation of hardware and software in the networking industry with its WiFi cloud management solution. Alongside other organizations like the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), Tanaza strives to bring the unbundling concept to the WiFi networking industry. Up to date, no other company has tried to address the market’s needs with an open solution that can work with multiple devices, like Tanaza.

Furthermore, Tanaza is an official Express Wi-Fi by Facebook Technology Partner, the best in class platform for WiFi hotspot monetization in emerging countries. This means that the Tanaza WiFi cloud management software integrates seamlessly with the Express Wi-Fi platform. Service Providers can use a fully integrated solution to manage their network deployments and the utmost monetization tools offered by Express Wi-Fi.

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Advantages of Cloud Managed WiFi SaaS for Wi-Fi business

by | Jan 13, 2021 | Cloud Management, TanazaOS, WiFi Networks

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Cloud Managed WiFi SaaS
Advantages of Cloud Managed WiFi SaaS for Wi-Fi business

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about the advantages of cloud managed
WiFi SaaS for Wi-Fi business.

Cloud managed WiFi services is the infrastructure, platform, or software hosted by third-party vendors and available for users through the internet. 

In the traditional standard system of services or resources, the infrastructure owner is responsible for managing every part of the hardware and software used. Traditional infrastructure is often related to outdated technologies that can’t be easily migrated into the cloud. Flexibility, standardization, and all cloud advantages are not always enough reasons to migrate. In other cases, strict business security and regulations sometimes force users to have data located nearby or under total management control. 

However, cloud managed WiFi as-a-Service solutions have a lot to offer and are regarded as a valid alternative to the older systems. If they are correctly used, they will help businesses save money, time, and staff. Actually, with the elimination of problems like service maintenance and potential issues, these resources can contribute to much greater productivity and performance.

Main types of Cloud-managed WiFi services

There are three main types of as-a-Service solutions: IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. Each facilitates user data flow from front-end customers through the internet, the cloud service provider’s systems, and back. But, the service they offer differs from one another.

IaaS

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) indicates that a cloud service provider manages the infrastructure for you through an internet connection. The user has access through an API or dashboard and basically rents the infrastructure.

The provider takes care of any hardware, networking, hard drives, data storage, and servers. It has the responsibility of managing all outages, improvements, and hardware issues. This is the typical deployment model of cloud storage providers.

PaaS

Platform as a service (PaaS) involves the hardware and the software platform provided and managed by an outside third-party cloud service provider. Still, the user handles the apps running on top of the platform, and the data the app relies on.

PaaS gives users a shared cloud platform for application development and management without the need for building and maintaining the infrastructure.

SaaS

Software as a service (SaaS) is a service to deliver software applications, managed by the cloud service provider, to its users. Typically, SaaS apps are web applications or mobile apps that users can access via a web browser. Software updates, bug fixes, and other general software maintenance are handled for the user, and they connect to the cloud-managed WiFi applications via a dashboard or API. SaaS also eliminates the need to have an app installed locally on each user’s computer, allowing a larger group or team access to the software.
Customers can deploy SaaS in one of three different models: Private, Public, or Hybrid cloud.

For more detailed information about the differences between Private, Public, and Hybrid cloud, please have a read to our related blog article.

Cloud-based WiFi management providers offer a responsive and easy-to-use solution to manage WiFi networks from the cloud. Today, many companies generally accept SaaS models that want to benefit from application usage without maintaining and updating infrastructure and components. The flexibility of the SaaS is a huge benefit.

Although it’s a deviation from the conventional purchasing software method, SaaS can bring significant advantages in the business environment. As cloud computing integration advances, many software providers are adding SaaS solutions to lead to enormous gains.

Benefits of using cloud-managed WiFi SaaS

SaaS provides a different reliable option to standard software installation in a business. In the traditional model, users have to build the server, install the application, and configure it. Instead, the applications run on a remote cloud network accessed through the web, and it works like a rental. So, organizations can use it for a certain period and pay for the software they are using.

With software as a service (SaaS), customers will be able to manage WiFi networks anytime, anywhere on a wide range of devices.

 

The top advantages of using SaaS are:

Reduced time

SaaS implies quick setup and deployment. SaaS applications are already installed and configured in the cloud. This minimizes common delays resulting from often lengthy traditional software deployment.

Furthermore, maintenance responsibilities are shifted from IT departments to the vendor itself. This reduces extra work hours and downtime that might have been necessary to upgrade traditional software. 

The Tanaza WiFi cloud platform lets users set the basic configurations of the network, which is applied by default to all the cloud-managed access points. This feature ensures an issue-free, fast and easy provisioning of new access points in small, medium, and large-scale WiFi networks, without waste of time. 

Also, Tanaza has a line of cloud-managed access points with the Tanaza software already installed. So, you don’t even need to download the firmware. In this way, the Tanaza Powered Devices suits a perfect plug-and-play user experience.

Lower costs

SaaS can provide remarkable savings for several different reasons. First, it eliminates the upfront cost of purchase and installation, plus on-going costs like maintenance and upgrades. Instead of spending huge sums of money on hardware installations, SaaS applications can be easily downloaded and maintained. 

Furthermore, subscription-based models allow businesses to pay for only what they are using and not pay for unused licenses. SaaS can be especially advantageous for small businesses because it provides access to expensive, high-powered software that might have been otherwise inaccessible with standard purchasing methods. Also, the subscription-based process eliminates the high financial risk of expensive software.

All costs will be distributed as predictable monthly or annual payments, depending on the payment plan. There are no additional surprise costs or extra charges. Organizations can always rely on their allocated budget for that solution. 

The Tanaza software allows you to make substantial savings due to the elimination of expensive hardware controllers in the infrastructure and on-site maintenance interventions. Moreover, disaggregation of software and hardware will enable users to control their costs better when deploying WiFi networks, with consistent CAPEX and OPEX reduction, thanks to Tanaza’s multi-vendor compatibility.

Scalability and integration

The subscription-based model provides fantastic flexibility. Because the software is hosted by a third-party vendor, changing your subscription plan is easy and can be done without advance notice. Additionally, web-based use allows subscribers to access the software easily from any location with internet capabilities.

With Tanaza, you can enjoy different pricing plans according to your business’ needs. If your business begins to grow, add any additional licenses immediately to the system. In this way, the solution can grow with you, at your own pace. Your subscription plan covers unlimited networks, clients connected, organizations and SSID’s. Software costs are, therefore, manageable and predictable.

Zero-Touch Deployment and configuration

Instead of your company maintaining its software and servers, SaaS stores, protects, and recovers your data remotely. 

With Tanaza, network administrators can set the network’s basic configurations, applied by default to all the cloud-managed access points in that network remotely. Additionally, it’s possible to reconfigure access points without rebooting them or restarting the services, all from the Tanaza dashboard.

Upgrades

The traditional model usually requires the purchase of updates and their installation. Instead with SaaS, the provider upgrades the software for the customer, so the costs and bonds associated with updates and new versions are lower.

The SaaS providers handle hardware and software updates, deploying upgrades centrally to the hosted applications, and removing this responsibility from end-users.

The Linux-based TanazaOS™ operating system is at the core of the platform and is continuously subject to upgrades in order to meet the needs of users.

Full Mobility

With the remote monitoring feature, Network operators have full mobility in the workforce. They can have complete control over the networks, managing and monitoring them from anywhere worldwide.

The Tanaza cloud-managed WiFi platform enables users to monitor the WiFi network’s performance indicators thanks to real-time statistics at the WiFi network and access point level.

Increased Security

SaaS providers invest a lot in security technology and expertise. Data is secure in the cloud, so equipment failure doesn’t result in loss of data.

Tanaza cloud infrastructure is designed to ensure top-level security and reliability. The platform is hosted on the highly secure Amazon Web Services (AWS), and its domains are SSL certified. Furthermore, Tanaza completely separates client traffic and management traffic through a secure encrypted tunnel to provide additional security.

Accessibility

All you need to use a SaaS application is a browser and a connection to the Internet. They can run via the Internet 24/7 from any device. This makes SaaS more accessible than the traditional business software installation.

The centralized configuration and monitoring of the cloud-managed Tanaza platform enable customers to access any service provided easily. SaaS, and more widely cloud computing, can help you make the most of a restricted IT budget while giving you access to the most advanced technology and professional support.

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Public Cloud vs Private Cloud vs Hybrid Cloud

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https://www.tanaza.com/blog/improve-business-networks-using-cloud-managed-solutions/

Tanaza WiFi platform vs. Classic Hotspot

by | Dec 28, 2020 | Cloud Management, TanazaOS, WiFi Networks

Explore Tanaza's Features
WiFi Platform Comparison 2022
Tanaza cloud-based WiFi platform vs. Classic Hotspot


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Tanaza and Classic Hotspot.

Cloud-based WiFi platforms are gaining momentum more than ever, especially these days where everything needs to be available right away and from any location. WiFi platforms have become essential to monitor networks, devices, WiFi hotspots, and intervene faster when something goes wrong.

Tanaza capitalizes the WiFi cloud management concept quite well, offering a feature-rich, scalable, and secure platform to manage high performing WiFi networks. IT teams can remotely monitor networks without going onsite and troubleshoot devices in just a few clicks, with almost zero downtime.

Furthermore, Tanaza integrates with the Classic Hotspot platform to monitor and control public hotspots. Thus, MSPs and Service Providers can manage and control WLANs from a single dashboard while allowing their customers to customize the guest WiFi experience.

Disaggregation of hardware and software is at the core of Tanaza’s technology. It allows users to manage their costs better when deploying or upgrading WiFi networks, with remarkable CAPEX and OPEX reduction, thanks to Tanaza’s multi-vendor compatibility.

Tanaza – the cloud-based WiFi platform for WLAN management

Tanaza is a cloud-based management software to operate WiFi networks, suitable for professional indoor and outdoor deployments, medium, and large scale. It allows the deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting of WiFi networks remotely from an intuitive and responsive dashboard. 

The core technology, TanazaOS, is based on the powerful Linux-based Operating System.  The platform allows users to manage and control multiple WiFi access points and thousands of networks from one single control plane.

With Tanaza, users can enable SSIDs, configure IP addresses, set radio power and channels, reconfigure access points without rebooting them or restarting devices from the cloud dashboard. Furthermore, it’s possible to integrate the platform with third-party applications. 

Tanaza represents the most suitable alternative to the on-premises and hybrid-cloud deployments since it removes the need for physical hardware controllers. It relies its cloud platform on the Amazon Web Services (AWS), guaranteeing the market’s highest security levels while running on a robust cloud infrastructure.
Tanaza takes care of many operations, including server maintenance, back-up, security patches, and fixes, and ensures high availability of the system for minimum downtime and productivity losses. 

How does the Tanaza WiFi cloud platform work?

Tanaza is designed to improve productivity and performance when deploying medium and large-scale WiFi Networks. The platform lets users set the basic configuration of a network and apply those by default to all the access points in the network. This feature ensures an issue-free, fast and easy provisioning of new access points in large-scale deployments.

To use Tanaza, users should create an account, choose a device compatible with the platform and download the right TanazaOS firmware for the specific device to manage it with Tanaza.

To get started with Tanaza, create a network to associate any APs. A Network can contain any number of access points in single or multiple locations. There’s no limit on the number of Networks nor on the number of access points associated with it. Furthermore, Networks can be arranged into Organizations, quite useful when managing multiple client’s locations.

Add the access point by entering its MAC address. Afterwards, create an SSID and associate the access points to the new SSID to start broadcasting Internet. When creating SSIDs, users choose an authentication method, edit general settings, like Client IP assignment (NAT or Bridge mode), bandwidth limit, and security settings, such as client isolation, or band selection.

Tanaza features an Inventory for the access points within the platform, where users can store access points while not using them. Also, users can add offline devices to networks. As soon as it goes online, it will synchronize with the network’s configuration automatically.

The platform allows network admins to work with any number of collaborators by inviting them to join the networks as members.

Furthermore, network admins can assign roles and permission levels for new members in the networks that would allow full administration or only-view specific networks.

A WiFi platform with vendor-agnostic capabilities

Tanaza gives users the freedom to use different brands’ access points, reducing costs considerably. In this way, by reusing existing WiFi infrastructure, Tanaza enables customers to lower the cost of the network’s capital investment.

The Tanaza WiFi platform is compatible with multiple access points from multiple brands for indoor and outdoor deployments. Also, it has a curated selection of Tanaza Powered Devices that come with the software pre-installed. The line of cloud-managed Tanaza Powered Devices guarantees users an immediate plug & play, out of the box experience.

Classic Hotspot – the WiFi platform for hotspot management

Previously known as Tanaza Classic. Classic Hotspot is a platform to manage and monitor public hotspots from the cloud. Customers can set up and monitor their clients’ networks, their free and paid hotspots featuring a captive portal with social login and voucher-based authentication.

With Classic Hotspot, you can set up guest access authentication with password-based access, open access, or with captive portal for paid or free WiFi. The Classic Hotspot captive portal allows users to authenticate and register to WiFi networks using their credentials. 

It also represents a profitable marketing tool to collect data and segment users. Businesses that provide WiFi to their clients can collect useful data and segment it to run engaging marketing campaigns. 

Classic Hotspot features a mobile-ready splash page for users’ authentication highly customizable with the Splash Page ​Editor. The editor allows users to drag and drop built-in elements to the splash page, add new login methods, personalize the splash pages, and make it multi-lingual easily.

All information and data captured about WiFi clients are stored within the Classic Hotspot analytics dashboard, a web-based tool to access the social statistics and clients’ contact details. The dashboard helps to gather and analyze WiFi data and get insights about customers for a well-fitted brand’s engagement. The dashboard also serves as a database for all clients and their connections, showing detailed information per client and allowing export to CSV or XLSX.

Guest WiFi Access with Classic Hotspot

Furthermore, Classic Hotspot allows WiFi login through social media. Social WiFi enhances customers’ experiences and provides data to make data-driven decisions. Businesses can generate new leads, increasing the results of the lead nurturing and engagement process. Users/customers get engaged with the business while connected to the WiFi. Businesses can display welcome discounts/offers, familiarize users/customers with the brand, incentivize purchasing, and encourage interaction on social media. Classic Hotspot allows social login through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Google, Vkontakte.

The Classic Hotspot Couponing System allows businesses to create, print, and distribute vouchers for Internet connectivity. The couponing system allows to limit guest access to WiFi networks. When setting up the SSID, businesses can specify the overall bandwidth and bandwidth usage per client. Businesses can then distribute WiFi vouchers with a limited data download/upload and a limited number of devices connected to the network.

Through WiFi advertising, businesses can target the right audience, and at the same time, leverage WiFi hotspots to promote the business for free. Many companies are currently exploring WiFi to advertise their products and services to generate new leads. Using Classic Hotspot’s​ built-in system for image or video advertisements, you will attract existing or new potential customers. 

Classic Hotspot integrates with Tanaza cloud-based WiFi platform

Tanaza WiFi Cloud platform integrates with the whole feature set of Classic Hotspot. This includes the splash page editor, social and analytics dashboard. The Classic Hotspot integration allows users to enable social WiFi, paid WiFi, and WiFi advertising on custom splash pages. 
Classic Hotspot enables businesses to monitor public WiFi hotspots and manage and control the WiFi networks with Tanaza WiFi cloud all from the cloud.

To enable the integration between Tanaza WiFi cloud platform and Classic Hotspot, users should follow these instructions.​

Why should you integrate the Tanaza WiFi platform with Classic Hotspot?

The cloud-managed WiFi market is rising, mostly because of the increased usage of WiFi-enabled devices and applications. The increasing employment of streamed multimedia content and web services, particularly mobile devices, expands the unique need for WiFi connectivity and drives companies to invest more into WiFi platforms.

Today, all vertical markets need to provide WiFi to their customers: retail, education, hospitality and tourism, healthcare, SMBs, public and commercial activities. Thanks to the integration with Tanaza, you can manage WiFi hotspots from the cloud.  

In this way, you will have the chance to combine a professional enterprise-level product to manage WiFi access points with a complete set of marketing features that integrates perfectly. The Classic Hotspot integration allows Tanaza’s customers to enable an advanced hotspot system for WiFi marketing, social hotspots, and WiFi monetization. 

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WiFi Hotspot Monetization with Express Wi-Fi by Facebook and Tanaza

by | Dec 22, 2020 | Cloud Management, Express Wi-Fi, Express WiFi, TanazaOS

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WiFi Hotspot Monetization
WiFi Hotspot Monetization with Express Wi-Fi by Facebook and Tanaza


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about WiFi hotspot monetization with
Express WiFi and Tanaza.

WiFi Hotspot Monetization represents an excellent opportunity for Service Providers to generate more revenues. Facebook has created Express Wi-Fi, a best in class platform for WiFi hotspot monetization in emerging countries.

Small businesses, in partnership with Service Providers, can grant WiFi connectivity to their customers and connected devices, implement advertising strategies, and sell data packs through the Express Wi-Fi platform.

Express Wi-Fi helps small businesses to offer fast and affordable WiFi services through hotspots spread across communities. Retailers, restaurants, hoteliers, and other small businesses can integrate Express Wi-Fi with Tanaza to monetize their WiFi investment while managing all their networking devices from a single dashboard.

Express Wi-Fi is already available in countries including Argentina, Brazil, some countries in Africa, Asi, and SouthEast Asia.

WiFi Hotspot Monetization with Express Wi-Fi

Express Wi-Fi by Facebook is an initiative by Facebook Connectivity to bring more people online and connect the unconnected. Worldwide, there are more than 3.8 billion people who are not yet online. The Express Wi-Fi platform aims to connect the world’s rural and underserved areas to the Internet. 

Express WiFi works with local Service Providers to enable retailers, restaurants, and stores with Express WiFi compatible access points to sell internet data packets to customers through the Express WiFi platform. 

The app, available for iOS and Android, accelerates the end-user onboarding process, allowing them to buy internet plans as needed and no extra fees.

What is the Express Wi-Fi platform?

Express Wi-Fi is a best in class SaaS Wi-Fi management platform with an innovative portfolio of monetization levers that helps Service Providers in launching and operating a sustainable high-quality Wi-Fi network. 

Service Providers can collaborate with local communities and local entrepreneurs to enlarge WiFi coverage. Express Wi-Fi offers a comprehensive platform that partners can leverage to manage their WiFi hotspots better and adapt their WiFi offering.

The Express Wi-Fi platform delivers for Service Providers and Business Owners a comprehensive platform to effectively monetize and grow their WiFi networks. On the other hand for End-Users is a quick and intuitive access to fast, reliable and affordable WiFi.

The WiFi opportunity:

 

  • 4G coverage gaps areas with high-density populations, where WiFi can offer a feasible way to overcome this gap. The platform can help better identify, deploy, and manage to optimize the operator’s mobile offering.
  • Areas with low 4G adoption where people can connect but are unable to for different reasons.
  • Areas with 4G congestion. With seamless roaming on the network, end users will benefit from an always-connected state. Thus, operators will better manage congested areas, where the lack of multiple monetization levers limits revenue generation.
  • Under-utilized Wi-Fi networks, for which indirect revenue levers can help create new revenues and increase network utilization.

How to use Express Wi-Fi for WiFi Hotspot Monetization

Service Providers’ customers can use Express Wi-Fi to configure and generate revenues from their WiFi network infrastructure. Small and medium businesses, where Express WiFi is available, can monetize their WiFi hotspots through ads, sponsored splash pages, recharge API, vouchers, loyalty programs, and utilize the referral program. 

For instance, businesses can configure the captive portal at targeted hotspots to display the logo or promotional image of their business or use banner ads on the captive portal and image-based rewarded data. Also, they can purchase data packs in bulk via the Express Wi-Fi App, with each voucher having a code that can be shared through the Express Wi-Fi App, via QR code or manually.

Express Wi-Fi multi-role access

The platform has multi-role access, depending on the type of role you have to manage the Express Wi-Fi by Facebook’s network. The kind of role ranges from administrators, retailers, distributors to end-users.

 

  • Administrators can have full access to the Express Wi-Fi Partner portal to manage every single platform viewpoint.
  • Retailers are businesses that ISPs partner with to sell data packs to users. Retailers represent the point of reference for consumers to buy data and learn about the service.
  • Distributors and sales representatives can manage a retailers’ network. Also, ambassadors promote the Express Wi-Fi platform awareness and submissions. Distributors own the channel, which enables partners to reach retailers and help them to manage sales to end-users. They can sell balances to retailers through a website via mobile phone.
  • Customers, or end-users, are purchasing or getting access to the Express Wi-Fi partner’s internet service.

Where is Express Wi-Fi available?

Express Wi-Fi has already been launched in over 35 regions around the world. Networks have been deployed with more than 20,000 hotspots to serve over 1 million people.
The platform is now a reality throughout Africa, Asia, South East Asia and South America.

 

Africa

Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

South America

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru.

Asia

India, Nepal and Thailand.

South East Asia

Indonesia and Philippines.

Tanaza WiFi cloud-managed software integrates seamlessly with Express Wi-Fi.

Tanaza is an official Express Wi-Fi Technology Partner, which means that the Tanaza WiFi cloud management software integrates seamlessly with the Express Wi-Fi platform. Service Providers can use a fully integrated solution to manage their network deployments and the utmost monetization tools offered by Express Wi-Fi.

The Tanaza WiFi management platform

The Tanaza platform is a cloud-based WiFi management software that makes deployment, configuration, and remote monitoring of networks easier. The software enables network admins to manage WiFi networks, access points, SSIDs, and clients from one single dashboard in the cloud. The core technology, TanazaOS, is based on the reliable and robust Linux-based Operating System. The platform is compatible with multiple hardware devices for Service Providers to manage and monitor WiFi networks remotely.

Service Providers and Operators can deploy WiFi networks with different brands for robust and stable WiFi networks. In this way, they can grant users access to fast, affordable, and reliable Internet with Express Wi-Fi’s monetization levers.

Benefits of integrating Tanaza with Express Wi-Fi.

The Tanaza WiFi cloud management software represents a valuable opportunity for Service Providers and Operators willing to monetize WiFi hotspots with Express Wi-Fi.

SPs and Operators can manage WiFi networks from the Tanaza cloud dashboard and monetize them through the Express Wi-Fi platform. Tanaza offers great flexibility to choose the WiFi access points that best meet their needs, thanks to our multi-compatibility.

Enable retailers to sell daily, weekly, or monthly data packs. Retailers’ customers (end-users) can buy packages on-the-go, and use them to access the Internet until the data limit is reached or until the usage period expires.

By integrating Tanaza with Express Wi-Fi, Service Providers can:

 

  • Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot networks remotely from the Tanaza cloud dashboard.
  • Use affordable and high-performing access points, leveraging Tanaza’s multi-brand compatibility.
  • Reduce CapEx and OpEx because expensive hardware controllers are excluded.
  • Monetize your WiFi hotspots through the Express Wi-Fi platform, with direct and indirect revenues.
  • Deliver better utilization and profitability from an innovative portfolio of monetization levers.
  • Use a cloud-based SaaS model optimized for Wi-Fi operations.
  • Leverage advanced analytics for optimal network deployment.
  • Take advantage of a continuously evolving software platform.

Express Wi-Fi provides Operators with a complete platform to enhance their WiFi offering.

When enabling Express Wi-Fi, you become part of an ecosystem that grants fast, affordable, reliable, and scalable internet access all over the world. Through this program, Mobile Network Operators and Internet Service Providers can work together with local entities to boost WiFi coverage where and when it’s needed.

The Express Wi-Fi platform enables Service Providers and Operators to help people enjoy connectivity in underserved areas while assisting operators in managing and monetizing their offerings.

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