Generic Access Network - Advantages

Advantages

For carriers:

• Instead of erecting expensive base stations to cover dead zones, GAN allows carriers to add coverage using low cost 802.11 access points. Subscribers at home have very good coverage.
• In addition, GAN relieves congestion (meaning that networks can, through GAN, essentially piggyback on other infrastructure) on the GSM or UMTS spectrum by removing common types of calls and routing them to the operator via the relatively low cost Internet
• GAN makes sense for network operators that also offer Internet services. Operators can leverage sales of one to promote the other, and can bill both to each customer.
• Some other operators also run networks of 802.11 hotspots, such as T-Mobile. They can leverage these hotspots to create more capacity and provide better coverage in populous areas.
• The carrier does not pay for much of the service, the party who provides the Internet and Wi-Fi connection pays for a connection to the Internet, effectively paying the expensive part of routing calls from the subscriber.

For subscribers:

• Subscribers do not rely on their operator's ability to roll out towers and coverage, allowing them to fix some types of coverage dead zones (such as in the home or workplace) themselves.
• The cheaper rates for 802.11 use, coupled with better coverage at home, make more affordable and practical the use of cellphones instead of land lines.
• Using IP over 802.11 eliminates expensive charges when roaming outside of a carrier's network.
• GAN is currently the only commercial technology available that combines GSM and 802.11 into a service that uses a single number, a single handset, a single set of services and a single phone directory for all calls.
• GAN can migrate between IP and cellular coverage and is thus seamless; in contrast, calls via third-party VOIP plus a data phone are dropped when leaving high-volume data coverage.