White Paper: Enabling the Mobile Workforce

ROGERS WHITE PAPER

DO TABLETS WITH WIRELESS DATA
MAKE SENSE FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
Rev. May 2012

MAKE SENSE FOR YOUR BUSINESS? 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Wi-Fi Only or Wireless? 3
Does Your Connectivity Match Your Solution? 4
Is Wi-Fi Compromising Your Security? 5
What’s the True Cost of Wi-Fi Connectivity? 7
Doing the Math on iPad & Wi-Fi 8
Conclusion 10
About Rogers 11


INTRODUCTION: WI-FI ONLY OR WIRELESS DATA?
Consider the solution, security and total cost of ownership before making a
purchase decision.

For more than half of all companies,1 it’s no longer a question of whether to adopt tablet
computers but how and where to deploy them to achieve the greatest effect.

Another key question for many organizations is whether to choose a Wi-Fi only tablet or one
with 3G, 4G or LTE connectivity and a data plan2. Make/manufacturer, processor and memory
are also important considerations, but because of the monthly data charge, the question, “Wi-
Fi only or wireless data?” is often the most pressing one.

As more and more tablets find their place on retail shelves, the percentage of Wi-Fi only
devices is on the rise.2 This is driven by consumers who plan to use their tablets primarily at
home, on campus, at a mall or in a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi service. Business users, on
the other hand, cannot always restrict their use of tablets to Wi-Fi zones. Beyond email, web
browsing and media consumption, organizations are adopting tablets so that their people
can perform important tasks in the field more efficiently and effectively than by other means
(e.g., paper forms or laptops). With the rise of machine-to-machine (M2M) and mobile
workforce solutions, employees can use tablets for sales presentations, work orders, inventory
queries, payment processing, signature capture, field data capture, remote surveillance, video
conferencing and much more. These tasks don’t necessarily take place in public or private Wi-
Fi locations, but they often require an internet connection. Not performing tasks while mobile
between connection points can cost a business in terms of lost productivity, lost sales and
revenue and lost competitive advantage.

Because tablets have so many potential business applications, as a decision maker you need to
weigh the importance of several factors, including:

the business solution being implemented
the degree of security required
the total cost of ownership

1
Tablet Demand and Disruption, Morgan Stanley Research, 2011.
2
US Wireless Market Update Q4 2011 Full-Year 2011, Chetan Sharma Consulting, 2012.


DOES YOUR CONNECTIVITY MATCH YOUR SOLUTION?
Wi-Fi only tablets make sense when employees operate in fixed locations where secure Wi-Fi
networks can be deployed, such as hotels, restaurants, health care facilities and campuses.
There are many tablet applications that can enhance productivity, improve service and create
additional revenue opportunities. Consider the following examples:

Healthcare providers can quickly and securely access records and test results on the go,
allowing them to see more patients and do less paperwork.

Educators can provide students with a more interactive, media-rich learning experience.

Restaurants can upload wine lists and menus,
reducing the cost of daily printing and creating a
more interactive dining experience for customers.
SEASONAL BUSINESS
Hotels can provide tablets in the lobby, allowing
SCALES EASILY WITH
guests to check themselves in and out through
TABLETS
secure custom apps.
Deco Windshield Repair operates
Even for these solutions for fixed locations, there is a pop-up service centres in over
170 locations across Canada every
good business case for selecting tablets with a data plan. summer. Huge seasonal expansion
For example, they can provide business continuity when and widely dispersed employees were
the Wi-Fi network goes down. In a campus environment, causing a lot of growing pains.
they can also provide better overall coverage than Wi-
Deco worked with Rogers and Robots
Fi and eliminate the need to log into multiple networks and Pencils to implement a tablet
when moving between buildings or zones. Finally, a solution that allows employees to
create work orders, take payments,
wireless data connection can “future-proof” a solution
email invoices, order and track
to meet changing needs of employees and the business. inventory, automate payroll, and
connect workers via a private social
networking portal.
On the other hand, there are many categories of workers
who don’t operate in fixed Wi-Fi zones. For these mobile Deco is now a nearly paperless
employees, there are tablet-based solutions that can operation, saving time and money
significantly improve their productivity, effectiveness and through automation. Thanks to
the tablet solution, the company is
contribution to the bottom line: achieving scalable growth, with 50
new locations planned for this year.

Drivers can complete and submit logs using touchscreens while they’re on the road.
Mobile sales teams can use tablets to connect to CRM, order entry and inventory systems,
anywhere, anytime.
Service technicians can download their work orders without visiting the office and update
them as the work is completed. This means more billable hours and less paperwork.
Sales representatives at trade show booths and pop-up retail kiosks can process secure
payment transactions.
Operations managers and security personnel can use remote monitoring solutions to keep
an eye on their premises, wherever they are.

All of these scenarios rely on a wireless connection to harness the full power of the solution.

Work doesn’t just happen at the office, in hotels, airports and coffee shops; it happens when
and where it needs to. If your workforce doesn’t have the right connectivity and the proper
tools, the business may suffer, and your technology investment won’t be optimized.

IS WI-FI COMPROMISING YOUR SECURITY?

The second factor that you need to consider when
making the wireless network vs. Wi-Fi only decision is
security. Many mobile device manufacturers offer great WHAT IS FIRESHEEP?
security features with their operating systems, including
Firesheep is a plug-in for the Firefox
‐
data encryption on the device. Robust security on browser that automates session
Apple®, BlackBerry® and, increasingly, Android™ devices hijacking attacks. Called a “packet
help ensure that things like customer information sniffer”, it lets a hacker monitor and
and intellectual property are safe and sound. Mobile analyze traffic between a Wi-Fi‐
router and users connecting to it.
device management solutions can take mobile security
to the next level, extending additional security and Firesheep intercepts the session
management features across a wide range of devices cookies that authenticate a user on
types. It’s important to understand, however, that when a website, allowing the hacker to
employees use public Wi-Fi hotspots, they can introduce do anything the real user would do,
including making transactions and
points of vulnerability into the organization’s overall
sending messages.
security solution. They can also easily compromise the
security of their personal data.

Wi-Fi hotspots encrypted with WEP, WPA or WPA2 security
are quite secure, but many public Wi-Fi networks are not encrypted.3 Furthermore, it may
not be realistic to expect your company’s mobile workers to verify this before connecting
to Wi-Fi at an airport, a hotel or a restaurant. Unsecured hotspots leave users vulnerable
3
Eric Geir, How to Securely Manage Wi-Fi on Smart Phones and Tablets, eSecurityPlanet.com, March 30, 2011.

to eavesdroppers, who can use software like Firesheep to capture login credentials from
unsecured sites. More sophisticated software may even be able to reassemble pages
visited. Vulnerable sites can include popular social media brands, email platforms and other
commercial, password-protected sites. Once an eavesdropper has this information, a potential
point of vulnerability has been created.

Beyond the threat posed by a legitimate but unsecured Wi-Fi network is the “rogue” hotspot
that hackers often set up in the range of a legitimate Wi-Fi area with the goal of confusing
and entrapping the unwary. If an employee unwittingly connects their tablet to one of these
peer-to-peer connections, all of their traffic will flow through the hacker’s computer and can
be read and stolen. The tablet can be attacked and infected by malware. These rogue sites
are apparently quite common at major international airports that are heavily used by business
travellers.4

There are certainly ways to mitigate the risks of public Wi-Fi hotspots. Creating a policy that
requires employees to visit only HTTPS (vs. HTTP) and SSL encrypted sites is one tactic—but
how easy is that to enforce? You can also require the use of virtual private networks (VPNs)
on tablets and other mobile devices. Some operating systems include native VPN, and you can
set up your own VPN server or look into a hosted solution. A VPN is probably the best way to
protect against eavesdropping and should be considered as part of a company’s overall mobile
security strategy.

If your mobile workers use a wireless network, most of these concerns go away. Because
wireless service providers (including Rogers) encrypt the traffic flowing to and from devices,
eavesdropping is not an issue as it is with Wi-Fi. With proper security features (such as
encryption, anti-malware) enabled on your devices and network and proper policies governing
the information your users can access, company and personal data should be protected from
cybercriminals.

Organizations seeking additional security and control over their employees’ wireless internet
use can implement a custom APN (access point name) solution that dictates what a group of
devices can access on the internet—allowing email and corporate LAN but not web browsing
or commercial apps, for example. Sometimes business travellers use Wi-Fi when not on their
provider’s network to avoid high roaming charges. If you equip your international travellers
with travel data plans, that concern disappears and they can stay connected and keep their
data protected from prying eyes.

4
Preston Gralla, Don’t fall victim to the ‘Free Wi-fi’ scam, Computerworld.com, Jan. 19, 2007.


WHAT'S THE TRUE COST OF WI-FI CONNECTIVITY?
There is no denying the importance of cost in almost
any IT procurement decision. As a decision maker, you TABLET
have a clear responsibility to ensure a proper cost/benefit
analysis is done.
CONNECTIVITY
OPTIONS
At first glance, Wi-Fi only tablets may seem to represent
the more economical solution. The cost of the device is
typically less than the 4G version. Also, there is no data
plan attached to the device, so no monthly invoice from
your service provider. Assuming that the user relies on +
company, personal and free public Wi-Fi networks, the
initial cost of the device is roughly equal to the total cost TABLET PLUS WI-FI ROUTER
of ownership.

But will free Wi-Fi access always be available to your
mobile employees? While it’s becoming more common in
hotels, airports and coffee shops, it’s far from ubiquitous,
and some of the most common travel hubs and hotel +
chains still charge for the service.5 It’s easy to see how
your sales people, executives and field service reps could
TABLET PLUS MOBILE HOTSPOT
be obliged to pay for internet at least occasionally.

Carrying a mobile hotspot is another option, especially
for a mobile team travelling together and looking for
secure connectivity on the go; however, this solution
involves additional hardware. Tethering to a smartphone +
is also a possibility, eliminating the need to purchase a
mobile hotspot device. Tethering will cause data use on TABLET PLUS TETHERED
the phone plan to spike, however, and can drive overage SMARTPHONE
fees if users don’t have the right plan. It also means that
the user always has to have a smartphone at hand and
perform the extra step of connecting the tablet to the
device. Finally, it can quickly drain the phone’s battery—a
major issue for mobile workers.

As the additional costs and inconveniences multiply, they
can erode the value proposition of Wi-Fi only tablets. TABLET WITH WIRELESS DATA

5
HotelChatter Annual Wi-Fi Report, http://www.hotelchatter.com/Hotel-Wifi-Report/2011.


DOING THE MATH ON TABLETS WI-FI
To illustrate the cost question, consider an industry leading tablet with Wi-Fi + 4G. A 16 GB
Wi-Fi only model sells for $519 in Canada, and the 4G version costs $130 more. A wireless
plan adds cost to the 4G version, but there are options that allow businesses to control and
right size their data costs. Rogers offers several flex rate plans that automatically begin users at
the lowest tier. If they exceed their allotment for that tier in any given month, they don’t pay
overage charges but instead move to the next tier.

Very light users who spend most of their time working in a Wi-Fi zone could get a 10 MB plan
for $5 per month, which flexes to $17 for 250 MB.

For approximately $22 per month6, users can get 500 MB —enough to allow them to stay
connected whether they are processing transactions or capturing data in the field. Both plans
flex up to approximately $37 per month for 5 GB – perfect for the power user.

These flex rate data plans can make a pretty compelling case for tablets with wireless data. As
the tables below illustrate, a mobile worker with a Wi-Fi only tablet who pays for Wi-Fi service
at least 1.3 times per month over a one-year period would equal the cost of the Wi-Fi + 4G
tablet with the $5 per month flex plan. The user who pays for Wi-Fi at least 2.8 times per
month over a year would reach the cost of the 4G tablet with the $22 per month flex plan.
Paying for Wi-Fi an average of 4 times per month for a year would roughly equal the cost of a
$37 per month plan.

6
Prices are rounded up to the nearest dollar and include the The Government Regulatory Recovery Fee which
varies by province and ranges from $1.81-$2.75/line/month ($1.81 AB/BC/MB/ON/QC/NB/NS/PEI/SK $2.75 NL).
It is applied to help fund fees, costs and other amounts related to federal, provincial and/or municipal mandates, programs
and requirements. It is not a tax or charge the government requires Rogers to collect and is subject to change.
See www.rogers.com/regulatoryfee for details.

SCENARIO 1 — OCCASIONAL USER: WI-FI VS. 4G WITH MONTHLY USAGE AT $5 TIER

Cost of 16 GB tablet - 4G $649
Cost of 16 GB tablet - Wi-Fi $519
Incremental cost of 4G tablet $130
$5/month Rogers Flex Rate plan x 12 months $60
Total incremental cost of 4G + data plan $190
Average cost of paid Wi-Fi hotspot $127
16 uses of paid Wi-Fi hotspots (1.3 times/month over 1 year) $192

SCENARIO 2 — REGULAR USER: WI-FI VS. 4G WITH MONTHLY USAGE AT $21.81± TIER

$21.81±/month Rogers Flex Rate plan x 12 months $261.72
Total incremental cost of 4G + data plan $391.72
33 uses of paid Wi-Fi hotspots (approx 2.8 times/month over 1 year) $396

SCENARIO 3 — HEAVY USER: WI-FI VS. 4G WITH MONTHLY USAGE AT $36.81± TIER8

$36.81±/month Rogers Flex Rate plan x 12 months $441.72
Total incremental cost of 4G + data plan $571.72
48 uses of paid Wi-Fi hotspots (4 times/month over 1 year) $576

From these rough calculations you can see that is that a Wi-Fi tablet might not save your
business any money if your mobile workers pay for Wi-Fi even a few times each month.

Not factored into this cost of ownership calculation is the “lost opportunity” cost of not being
able to send a proposal, work order or transaction while mobile and between hotspots; in the
real-time world we work and live in, delays can have a real impact on the business.

7
Based on an informal survey of Wi-Fi rates at major hotel chains in North America.
8
With a Rogers flex rate plan, users pay $36.81± only on the months that their usage exceeds the limits for lower tiers, so a heavy
user’s cost could be lower than the amount shown over a one-year period.
±
Includes the Government Regulatory Recovery Fee which varies by province and ranges from $1.81-$2.75/line/month ($1.81 AB/
BC/MB/ON/QC/NB/NS/PEI/SK $2.75 NL). It is applied to help fund fees, costs and other amounts related to federal, provincial
and/or municipal mandates, programs and requirements. It is not a tax or charge the government requires Rogers to collect and is
subject to change. See HYPERLINK http://www.rogers.com/regulatoryfee www.rogers.com/regulatoryfee for details. A one
time Activation Fee of up to $35 (varies by province) also applies. Where applicable, additional airtime, data, long distance,
roaming, options and taxes are extra and billed monthly.


CONCLUSION

Tablets are proving their value in business every day in situations where neither smartphones
nor laptops can match them for convenience or impact. Connectivity is definitely part of the
value equation, though. When making the purchase decision for your company, look beyond
the purchase price and consider the business solution for which the devices will be used, the
security of your organization’s data, and the total cost of ownership.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Your Rogers representative would be happy to help you assess your mobility needs and help
you make the right decision for your business. You can also visit rogers.com/business for
more information about tablets and wireless data plans.

®BlackBerry, RIM, Research In Motion, SureType and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are
registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world, used under license from Research In Motion Limited. Apple and iPad are trademarks
of Apple Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. ™Android is a trademark of Google Inc. ™Rogers and Mobius Design are trademarks of or used
under license from Rogers Communications Inc. or an affiliate. All other brand names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. © 2012 Rogers
Communications.


ABOUT ROGERS
Rogers Communications connects 1.5 million subscribers in small, medium and large
businesses and the public sector to their customers, suppliers, partners and employees with
reliable wireless voice and data services. As well, more than 130,000 subscribers rely on
Rogers for affordable and reliable small business Internet, telephone, and TV services that help
improve their customer service and bottom line. Rogers Communications wireless voice and
data services are built on Rogers proven LTE and HSPA+ networks. Rogers phones and devices
are world ready, allowing employees to stay connected wherever their business takes them.
Rogers world-leading internet services enable businesses to get easy internet access where
and when they need it and to remain productive and responsive. Rogers also provides custom
wireless solutions for mobile workers, fleet and asset management, critical network access
and machine-to-machine communication. All Rogers business services are backed by 24/7
technical support.

For more information, please visit www.rogers.com/business.

White Paper: Enabling the Mobile Workforce

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