In this age of WiFi and wireless connections, it is a surprise, that majority of Indian offices and corporate set-ups still rely on age-old LAN based connectivity for providing Internet access. When a new office is established, this complex maze of wires and modems are the first thing which system administrators focus on.
Understanding this gap, Vodafone’s business services has launched a unique enterprise focussed WiFi services, called Vodafone SuperWifi.
And this way, it has become India’s first enterprise level WiFi as a Service platform, which promises complete control and focuses on productivity. This platform can be deployed across offices, educational campuses, retail stores, warehouses, factories, hospitals, etc.
Around 7.5 million customers are right now using mobility services from Vodafone Business Services, which mainly serves enterprises, SMEs and Govt. institutions.
Vodafone’s Wireless As A Service Platform: How Will It Work?
As per details received by us from Vodafone, their unique Wireless (Network) as a Service platform will provide high-speed broadband connectivity to enterprises, using WiFi.
This service can be implemented across various locations of a business, and employees, vendors, and customers, everyone can use this enterprise WiFi for seamless internet connectivity.
Anil Philip, Sr. Vice President, Products – Vodafone Business Services, said, “With Vodafone SuperWifi, business customers can expect unmatched scalability, flexibility, security and reliability from their WiFi. In addition, they have ensured a superior wireless experience, minus the challenges of purchasing, configuring, managing and upgrading that come with a typical non-managed Wi-Fi setup.”
We haven’t received details about the pricing structure; but based on our experience, when it comes to enterprise level Internet connectivity, then more than pricing, it is the ease of usage, speed and network strength which matters.
And it seems Vodafone has taken care of these elements.
WiFi As A Service Can Be Fully Controlled
The best feature which we found in Vodafone Business’ latest offering, is the feature to control and monitor its usage, by the employer and service provider.
As per Vodafone, WiFi as a Service offering for enterprises would be bundled with analytics and online reporting tools, using which employers and users can monitor the usage details of the WiFi-based Internet, find out the performance and application usage details as well.
As we can see, this can be very well used by retail stores, to monitor and check which products are being searched by visitors; or an employer of business analysts can check which apps are being by them, and how many hours of Internet are being consumed by them.
Privacy is an issue, which Vodafone Business Services hasn’t explained or justified – is it ok for the boss to monitor which websites are being opened by the employer?
We will keep you updated as we receive more information on Vodafone Business’ newest service offering.
