VIDEO INTERVIEW: Mobile operators are not solely interested in Wi-Fi for off-loading traffic. According to Selina Lo, chief executive of Wi-Fi specialist Ruckus Wireless, some mobile operators are aggressively pursuing Wi-Fi to optimise site locations.

“If you look at small cell deployment, site acquisition is going to be the most challenging aspect,” she told Mobile World Live in a recent interview. “So, when operators acquire a site, they will try to put in as many technologies as they can to share the backhaul, the power and site leases.”

Lo sees a combination of Wi-Fi and 3G/4G small cells, on one site, becoming more commonplace in heterogeneous networks. “I do not think that 3G and 4G small cells will replace Wi-Fi,” she said. “Going forward, I think they will co-exist.”

Lo also talked about different mobile operator strategies, in both developed and emerging markets, to monetise Wi-Fi. Click here to see the whole interview.