Michelle, I am not aware of any other location based services driven by small cells.

Macster, the user has to connect to WiFi, enter his phone number, wait for an SMS with username/password and enter these to connect. So it's somewhat more complicated.

Hi Dimitris,

Quick question. For WiFi, when you say username/password, does this mean the user clicking on a link sent via SMS, then keying in username/password? Or... just a password for connecting to the WiFi access point (like how we use WiFi on our mobiles)? If the latter, does this mean that one can get the password via SMS, then connect, e.g. using a laptop? Just wondering.....

This is something i've been saying for a while is the real value and needs to be teh focus with small cells beyond just the coverage aspect. This can be about analytics and 3rd party applications which is the really cool aspect of it.

Thanks, Dimitris!

This is definitely one to watch. Do you know of any other operators with a 3G hotspot service like this?

Michelle,

I believe that the cellular service is provided by Vodafone and the WiFi service by HOL (Vodafone's fixed partner who also provides the DSL backhaul).

3G is definitely easier to connect to, as no user input is necessary. Simple handover to the small cell triggers traffic white-listing.

Connecting to the WiFi network requires a username/password to be sent to a mobile handset via SMS.

I would also very interested to see stats, but bear in mind that the service launched yesterday (3rd December) and not many subscribers are yet familar with it!

Thanks,

Dimitris. 

Just learned that all of the 200 locations each have a 3G small cell and a WiFi access point. So, I think this case study will be even more interesting when there is some data on which type of hotspot has the better user experience -- for example, which one is easier to access and which do users prefer -- 3G or WiFi?