China Mobile is at a competitive edge given its substantial Wi-Fi build-out, as we believe this should help the company drive 3G traffic and reduce network congestion. China Mobile has been able to avoid congestion in urban areas as the majority of usage happens in hotspots. These densely trafficked areas are ideal for Wi-Fi coverage.

Similarly, Airtel wants to use its LTE BWA Spectrum to not only serve the residential broadband market, but also allow it to create Wi-Fi spots in the medium to longer term and reduce 3G and network congestion. While the competition may do the same by using unlicensed spectrum [Tikona WiBro first started with this model], such spectrum is not only in much higher bands but also suffers from regulatory risks as the regulator may step in at any time to charge for spectrum usage.