Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) : Wi-Fi Roaming & Evolution White Paper

Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)
Wi-Fi Roaming & Evolution White Paper
Source: WBA
Author(s): Roaming Work Group
Issue date: 2019 / 2020 Version
Version: 1.0
Document status: Final
ABOUT THE WIRELESS BROADBAND ALLIANCE
Founded in 2003, the vision of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to drive seamless,
interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem. WBA’s
mission is to enable collaboration between service providers, technology companies and
organizations to achieve that vision. WBA undertakes programs and activities to address
business and technical issues, as well as opportunities, for member companies.
WBA work areas include advocacy, industry guidelines, trials and certification. Its key
programs include NextGen Wi-Fi, 5G, IoT, Testing & Interoperability and Roaming, with
member-led Work Groups dedicated to resolving standards and technical issues to promote
end-to-end services and accelerate business opportunities. WBA’s membership is comprised
of major operators and leading technology companies, including Broadcom, BSNL, Deutsche
Telekom AG, Facebook, Google, HPE Aruba, Huawei, Microsoft, Ruckus, Shaw, SK Telecom
and T-Mobile US.
The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Deutsche
Telekom AG, GlobalReach Technology, Intel and KT Corporation. For a complete list of
current WBA members, click here.
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Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Wireless Broadband Alliance
Issue Date: July 2019 Confidential & Proprietary Copyright © 2019
Version: 1.0
UNDERTAKINGS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
This Document and all the information contained in this Document is provided on an ‘as is’
basis without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to,
the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for particular purpose, or non-infringement.
In addition, the WBA (and all other organisations who may have contributed to this
document) makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or
suitability for any purpose of the information. The information may contain technical
inaccuracies or typographical errors. All liabilities of the WBA (and all other organisations
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takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights
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Neither the WBA nor any of the other organisations who may have contributed to this
document will be liable for loss or damage arising out of or in connection with the use of this
information. This is a comprehensive limitation of liability that applies to all damages of any
kind, including (without limitation) compensatory, direct, indirect or consequential damages,
loss of data, income or profit, loss of or damage to property and claims of third-parties.

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CONTENTS
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 1

1 Introduction - Roaming Vision ......................................................................................... 1
1.1 The Wi-Fi Roaming business case .......................................................................... 2
1.2 Ecosystem Players .................................................................................................. 4
1.3 NGH adoption worldwide ......................................................................................... 6
2 Building Blocks – How it works ....................................................................................... 8
2.1 Hotspot 2.0 / Passpoint® .......................................................................................... 8
2.2 The Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRIX) Framework ..................... 10
Setting up Roaming Service............................................................................................. 10
WRIX Specification and Guidelines ................................................................................. 11
2.2.1 WRIX-N .............................................................................................................. 12
2.2.2 WRIX-I................................................................................................................ 13
2.2.3 WRIX-D .............................................................................................................. 14
2.2.4 WRIX-F .............................................................................................................. 15
2.2.5 WRIX-L............................................................................................................... 16
2.3 Roaming architectures ........................................................................................... 17
3 NGH Market – Adoption Program ................................................................................. 19
3.1 Industry Engagement ............................................................................................ 20
3.2 Trials & Demos ...................................................................................................... 21
3.3 WBA Technical Programs & Trials ........................................................................ 22
3.4 Certification – Carrier Wireless Services Certification (CWSC) ............................. 24
4 Roaming Evolution – Time is now ................................................................................. 25
4.1 Overview on WRIX Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) ............................................... 25
4.2 Interconnection via RadSec ................................................................................... 25
4.3 Network Identification & Data Clearing .................................................................. 26
5 WBA Workstreams – Call to action ............................................................................... 27
5.1 Addressing Technical & Business Dimensions ...................................................... 27
5.2 Global Roaming Federation ................................................................................... 27
5.3 Join WBA and drive the momentum ...................................................................... 28

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Executive Summary
Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) – What does it mean?

NGH is WBA’s accomplishment of an end-to-end Wi-Fi Roaming experience, achieving the
seamless, secure and interoperable experience set as a benchmark by the Wi-Fi industry.
The underlying framework is composed of:
1. Hotspot 2.0 (HS2.0) specification from the Wi-Fi Alliance
2. Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRIX) Framework for Roaming
Therefore, NGH leverages HS2.0 capabilities and augments its potential by also including the
roaming experience, leveraging the WRIX framework.
The objective is not only to look at the key device-to-network components of HS2.0 – that will
be addressed later in the document – but mostly combining them with a straightforward and
secure experience across all roaming partners, in a reality that has become similar to cellular
roaming.
The Wi-Fi Alliance certification resulting of HS2.0 is named Passpoint™ and is described
later in the document.
Overall, a fresh outline is provided not only recommending an NGH experience for all the
service providers, enterprises, cities and users across the globe, but also the potential
financial outcomes.
1 Introduction - Roaming Vision
The WBA members hold a unified vision of what they believe will be the mainstream reality of
the industry – Interoperable, Seamless and Automatic:
Firstly, access to Wi-Fi networks, wherever we are, needs to be granted automatically and in
a frictionless and secure way. These are the critical criteria for enhancing the usage of Wi-Fi
and guaranteeing a simple user experience. This will, as a baseline, come through the
adoption of HS2.0 technology in Wi-Fi networks.
And secondly, the Roaming procedures need to be clear and financially simple so that
operators and service providers can benefit from the generated revenue streams and their
own business models.
The standardization of Roaming practices is, therefore, critical for the development of the
industry, as it enables the creation of different business models and agreements between
service providers.

Issue Date: July 2019 1 Confidential & Proprietary Copyright © 2019
Version: 1.0
For this reason, WBA Members have created a set of documents that compose the WRIX
framework – Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange. This framework focuses on detailing
the recommended best practices for Wi-Fi Roaming in terms of:
• Network configuration requirements and specifications
• Guidelines for Roaming interconnection
• Procedures for operator tariffs, data formats for file exchange and usage validation
• Financial clearing specification
• Location feed format and file exchange standard
Finally, one of the latest additions to the WRIX framework, and that has been widely
discussed within the WBA forum during 2019, is the massification of the WBA ID, an identifier
that will further simplify the way networks are identified and will enable a better financial
clearing, with more transparency and security for the service providers.
In light of this importance, and the hassles the roaming HUBs and service providers have
been facing over the years to correctly identify traffic, the WBA Roaming Work Group has
agreed on mandating the adoption of the WBA ID for anyone willing to explore the Wi-Fi
Roaming technology and respective business.
1.1 The Wi-Fi Roaming business case
While traveling, people are relying more than ever on their smartphones and tablets to stay in
touch with colleagues, friends and families from abroad. While mobile roaming services have
become accessible, it’s estimated that a high percentage of international travellers don’t use
traditional mobile services, instead relying on Wi-Fi networks to stay connected.
For Services Providers (SPs), there’s an opportunity to harness people’s familiarity and
acceptance of Wi-Fi to create new services and products, encouraging additional roaming
usage and revenues.
A managed Wi-Fi Roaming service can greatly improve the overall user experience with
regards to:
 Simplifying and automating the connection to a Wi-Fi hotspot
 Seamless roaming between Wi-Fi hotspots and networks
 Better technical performance of a Wi-Fi hotspot
 Secure authentication and connection to a Wi-Fi hotspot to avoid criminal acts
 Enhanced privacy for the end user

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 Access to a much larger commercial Wi-Fi network across different geographies and
venue types
Looking only at the Wi-Fi business, all these benefits will naturally translate into a more
satisfied customer.
But when we add the perspective of a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), the Wi-Fi roaming
business will ramp up a whole new set of opportunities, mostly focused on the overall
strategy of the company, either from a retention standpoint or improvement of the operational
margins. Let’s have a look on the key benefits:
 Extends your mobile network reach through multiple mobile connectivity methods,
which guarantees improved coverage across national and international regions.
 Instantly gain a large footprint of available hotspots rather than growing organically, on
an investment-based approach.
 Adopt or more OPEX-based business model - pay for actual usage rather than
deploying a network that might not get fully used
 Offload data, either in an imperceptible or perceptible way from your cellular network
at a much lower cost, saving money.
 Create new cellular packages with Wi-Fi integrated and as value added.
 Ultimately, reduce churn rate with the overall improvement of satisfaction for the end
users.
WBA promoting Wi-Fi roaming
One of the fundamental reasons for the existence of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA)
has always been to foster the adoption of better interoperable practices, from the operators
and infrastructure providers standpoint, so that the whole Wi-Fi industry can provide an
overall better experience for the end-users, which will naturally result in a better financial
return, as well, for the service providers.
For that purpose, WBA has organized a number of industry events, member work programs
and cross-industry collaboration over its 15+ years of existence to facilitate and promote the
Wi-Fi roaming best practices.
All members across the ecosystem can join the technical and commercial work groups and
participate and contribute in the various programs.

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1.2 Ecosystem Players
In the NGH ecosystem there are three primary stakeholders involved, and due to the
communal nature of the Wi-Fi industry, a single company may play more than one role.
Subscribers / end-users
Naturally, the subscribers correspond to the end-users that have a Wi-Fi or cellular
agreement with their operator to use its network. Now, in the case of a roaming experience,
the subscriber’s operator has a commercial agreement with another network provider –
operator, city, venue, etc. – so that this subscriber can also use the other provider’s network.
Home Service Provider (HSP)
The HSP, as somehow understood in the paragraph ahead, is the original service provider
that is offering a telecommunications service to the subscriber. This service can have multiple
forms; it can be a cellular package with Wi-Fi as a complement for national coverage only,
can be a Wi-Fi offering only, etc. We just need to understand that the HSP has a commercial
agreement with the VNP, so that the HSP subscriber is able to use the network of the VNP
without directly paying for it.
Visited Wi-Fi Network Provider (VNP)
The Visited Wi-Fi Network Provider corresponds typically to a network of an operator – but
can also be a venue like a hospital or an airport -, where the international visitor will be
“landing” and roaming into. This means that this will be the network receiving the foreign
visitor.
Roaming HUBs
Modelled like GSM roaming, the Wi-Fi hub provides a central connectivity point between the
visited Wi-Fi networks and the home subscriber networks. Within the hub, there are two
general functions:
• Interconnectivity – maintaining information associated with each Wi-Fi access point
in each Wi-Fi network, and managing the authentication/authorization process of an
end-customer to that visited network back to their home network data base.
• Settlement and Clearing – accounting of usage between networks and reconciling
that usage across the visited Wi-Fi networks to ensure that providers can get paid and
users can get billed. To facilitate and standardize this process, which is distinct from
cellular roaming, the WBA pioneered the Wi-Fi Roaming Intermediary Exchange
(WRIX) specification.

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There are independent 3rd party vendors
offering these services, including Accuris
Networks, BSG Wireless and Syniverse.
There are MNOs who’ve created groups or
departments to support this functionality such
as AT&T, Emirates DCH (EDCH), PT Telkom
Indonesia and Vodafone.
NGH Stakeholders & Providers
These come in all shapes; they range from
single site locations such as a venue (airport,
hospital, stadium, coffee shop), to multi-site
locations like hotel chains or even cities.
Then, we have service providers such as BT
and Comcast who have built Wi-Fi networks
to complement fixed networks, and mobile
providers like AT&T who’ve added Wi-Fi to
augment mobile capacity and increase the
average revenue per user.
Figure 1 - Roaming Stakeholders
There are millions of one-off locations
around the world offering free and open Wi-Fi. And there are aggregators like Boingo or
iPass that have built businesses around actively connecting and managing access to pools of
Wi-Fi networks. These companies can bring millions of disparate access points into a
roaming hub in a single connection.
These are the Visited Network Providers (VNPs) which provide access and Wi-Fi connectivity
to subscribers.
Figure 4 - Roaming Interconnection

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1.3 NGH adoption worldwide
The adoption of NGH worldwide can be essentially divided in terms of HS2.0 and Wi-Fi
Roaming business standpoints.
While there’s a strong vision for a seamless and automatic roaming experience, the fact is
that it is essentially expressed across the United States where we see an advanced
penetration of NGH, compared with Europe or Asia.
We’ll explore the reasons for investing and the business or technical challenges that service
providers have been facing around the globe when it comes to adopting NGH later on in this
document, but at this stage it’s worth mentioning that the adoption of NGH, as it typically
happens in any sort of innovative user experience in the communications industry, relies on a
global adoption from the whole industry – devices, infrastructure providers, operators,
venues.
Here’s some data on how the NGH penetration has been evolving over the years:
Devices compatible with HS2.0:
Device Type Estimated number
Access Points / Routers 650+
Client Devices (Phones, Tablets and Laptops) 1650+
IoT, Smart Home, Peripherals 200+
Figure 5 – HS2.0 devices available per release
NGH Networks estimated over the world
Figure 6 - NGH networks estimation across the globe

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Evolution of users in Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona
Figure 7 - MWC NGH/HS2.0 usage evolution
As we can see, by 2018, 20% of MWC attendees were already using the NGH network and
HS2.0 compliant devices and were getting connected automatically to the network in the Fira
venue.
This phenomenon has been led by the device availability that has always been critical for the
adoption of NGH, but it’s still worth mentioning the huge ramp up when compared with 2017.
Wi-Fi Roaming Survey

During the last quarter of 2018, the WBA has run a survey targeted at operators, specifically,
to assess the current landscape in terms of Wi-Fi Roaming, perspectives for investment, and
challenges faced - either from a technical or business standpoint - when adopting HS2.0
technology and Wi-Fi Roaming best practices.
This survey will be reflected on in detail in the appendix at the end of this document.

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2 Building Blocks – How it works
2.1 Hotspot 2.0 / Passpoint®
Hotspot 2.0 is a Wi-Fi specification developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance, commonly known as
HS2.0 in the industry.
Subsequently Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint® certification was launched in 2012, that by
leveraging HS2.0, delivers an industry-wide solution to streamline network access in hotspots
and eliminate the need for users to find and authenticate a network each time they connect.
In Wi-Fi networks that do not support HS2.0, users must search for and choose a network,
request the connection to the access point (AP) each time, and in many cases, must re-enter
their authentication credentials.
HS2.0 automates that entire process, enabling a seamless connection between hotspot
networks and mobile devices, all while delivering the highest WPA2™ security. In fact, HS2.0
is enabling a more cellular-like experience when connecting to Wi-Fi networks.
The HS2.0 concept was developed through partnerships between mobile device
manufacturers, network equipment vendors, and operators. Thus, it reflects the depth and
breadth of that collaboration as a great solution for end users, network operators, and device
vendors.
Opportunity for operators
In addition to providing a reliable, secure, in-pocket connection experience in Wi-Fi hotspots,
NGH/HS2.0 is delivering value to service providers in the following ways:
• Supports data offload with instant network detection, selection, and authentication
• Enables new value streams through inter-carrier Wi-Fi roaming, reaching new devices
and new venues for the existing subscriber base
• Increases customer satisfaction and reduces churn
• Offers best-in-class security for SIM and non-SIM devices alike
Wi-Fi is a strategic imperative in today’s mobile world and is becoming increasingly crucial for
mobile and fixed operators, as well as the retail and hospitality industry, as they invest in Wi-
Fi to meet business challenges. In October 2014, new features were released that build on
HS2.0 foundation of security and seamless connection to make the technology even more
valuable for service providers, while opening up new opportunities for other sectors.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the HS2.0 specification has been evolving over the years
through the form of Releases. The latest features just mentioned have been published with
the new Release 3, but here’s a snapshot on what has been the core features of each one of
the releases:

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Release 1 – 2012
o Wi-Fi Network Discovery and Selection: Mobile devices identify HS2.0
enabled networks and associate in the background, without any active user
input.
o Automatic Network Access: Mobile devices authenticate automatically, using
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) based on one of three authentication
schemes – Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), Username and Password, or
Certificate Credentials. This eliminates the need to login through a browser-
based portal.
o Secure Authentication and Connectivity: All connections are secured with
WPA2-Enterprise, which provides a level of security comparable to that of
cellular networks.
Release 2 – 2014
o Immediate Account Provisioning & Secure Registration: This feature
enables a streamlined process to establish a new account at the point of
access. For users, this capability takes the complexity out of getting connected
and enables in-pocket connectivity across a service provider’s entire network of
hotspots. Due to Online-Sign-Up (OSU) server verification, users can also be
confident that they’re connecting to their chosen provider network and that their
credentials are exchanged securely.
o Operator Policy: The policy support enables providers to deliver the best user
experience on Wi-Fi, while still easily maintaining the business requirements of
Wi-Fi roaming agreements.
Release 3 – 2019
o Simplified online sign-up: drives a common provisioning methodology across
vendors using a single SSID – or the “name of the network” as seen by users –
to simplify deployment and configuration
o Venue-specific information: allows a device to obtain relevant local
information about a venue to inform the user of available services provided by
the operator
o Expanded enterprise-level security: supports WPA2™-Enterprise and next
generation WPA3™-Enterprise for a strong level of authentication and
connectivity
o Operator-specific policies: provides a streamlined solution for acceptance of
terms and conditions when in public hotspots

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2.2 The Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRIX) Framework
This section provides an overview of WBA’s work in Wi-Fi Roaming, including:
• Roaming supporting documentation
• WRIX specification
• Global NGH Registry
• RADIUS-Diameter interworking
Setting up Roaming Service
The WBA roaming process is summarized under the term WRIX.

In addition to the WRIX specification a set of documents is available for the implementation
and maintenance of a Wi-Fi roaming agreement. These are:
• Technical Exchange Document (TED)
• Commercial and Business Exchange Document (CBED)
• User Experience (UE) Recommendations
• Fault Management, Troubleshooting and Customer Care Guidelines
• Location Feed template
Also, the WRIX ID identifies the VNP and HSP. The identifier list of network providers is
maintained by the WBA. The ID is a string of variable length containing the operator name
and country code. To retrieve this code please contact the WBA PMO
(pmo@wballiance.com).
For more information and details about the Wi-Fi Roaming Guidelines, the WBA invites you
to consult the following LINK.

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WRIX Specification and Guidelines
WRIX is a set of service specifications published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance to

provide a framework for Wi-Fi interconnection, data clearing, financial clearing and the
exchange of Wi-Fi location information between operators. The purpose of the service
specification is to standardize both technical and business processes between Wi-Fi
Roaming Partners.
Figure 8 - WRIX Framework
The WRIX is comprised of the four specifications listed below. The recommendation is for
operators to utilize all four of the specifications. However, it is acceptable for operators to
utilize the specifications only as guidelines when creating and maintaining Wi-Fi Roaming
partnerships.
Specifications:
• WRIX-N: Network and AAA Focus
• WRIX-I: RADIUS Interconnection Specifications
• WRIX-D: Data Clearing Specifications
• WRIX-F: Financial Settlement Specifications
• WRIX-L: Locations Feed Formation and File Exchange Specifications

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2.2.1 WRIX-N
User Authentication
The WRIX-n Network should support existing access control and authentication methods:
Existing Trusted Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi access is based on Wi-Fi SSID identification with EAP-SIM/EAP-AKA/EAP-AKA’
authentication.
This method expects the device or its software agent to configure a Wi-Fi profile in the device
to utilize 802.1X/EAP when it comes in range of a specific SSID to exchange EAP based
authentication.
The device and the Wi-Fi access point needs to support 802.11i security protocol.
Trusted Wi-Fi and HS2.0:
Devices or client agents should have advance access to a policy file populated with
credentials manually created or downloaded in the device to utilize ANQP and 802.1X/EAP
authentication protocols when the device comes in range of HS2.0 access point.
The above capabilities, plus HS2.0 compliant access using ANQP with EAP-SIM/EAP-AKA
authentication, as well as SSID based connection with HTTPS/OMA/SOAP protocol to
facilitate mobile policy provisioning and remediation.
Devices may redirect the user to sign up for a policy and credential for use in subsequent
authentications.
The device and the Wi-Fi access point need to continue to support 802.11i security protocol.
Authentication & Access Control
Well-operated networked systems require solid authentication mechanisms. Devices must
ensure that the network to which they are trying to connect is the one it claims to be. The
network must in turn make sure that the mobile device is authenticated before it uses any
network resources. This is called “Mutual Authentication”.
Access Control is the way to control the accessibility of network resources. Access Control is
required in order to execute the mutual authentication results and ensure that only
authenticated devices are able to access the network resources. Taking advantage of the
existing extensible authentication and access control framework defined in IETF and IEEE
and the WPA2-Enterprise certification program, NGH provides strong mutual authentication
and access control capabilities.
Credentials and related EAP methods that are supported by NGH are described in Table 1.
NGH APs should be able to support all EAP methods and credential types listed in Table 1.
Devices with SIM/USIM should support all EAP methods listed in Table 1 and their

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associated credential types. Devices without a SIM/USIM do not need to support EAP-SIM,
EAP-AKA and EAP-AKA’
Table 1 - Credential type and EAP method
Please refer to the WRIX-N Specification Document for further information.
2.2.2 WRIX-I
The WRIX-I specifies the interconnectivity, authentication and accounting processes between
Wi-Fi Roaming Partners. Interconnectivity is established and maintained through either
International Private Leased Circuits (IPLCs) or IPSec VPNs. When selecting an
interconnectivity method, the performance and security considerations must be weighed
versus cost. WRIX-I explicitly specifies the use of RADIUS authentication, authorization and
accounting (AAA) as the transport of requests between the VNP and the HSP. This enables
the support of a vast range of authentication methods including WISPr, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA,
EAP-TLS, and EAP-TTLS. However, the VNP and the HSP must agree bilaterally to which
method will be used.
There are three potential parties identified in the WRIX-I Specification:
HSP: Home Service Provider

• Maintain connectivity linkage
• On-line proxy routing for RADIUS messages, sent to the correspondent WRIX-I (HSP)
• Collect raw RADIUS accounting records generated by the proxy routing
• Mediate raw RADIUS accounting records for wholesale billing
• Send those records to the WRIX-D (HSP).
VNP: Visited Network Provider

• Maintain connectivity linkage
• Proxy routing mediation for RADIUS messages.
• Receive raw RADIUS accounting records generated by the proxy routing
• Optionally mediate raw RADIUS accounting records for reconciliation of wholesale
billing and send those records to the WRIX-D (HSP)

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HUB: An optional intermediary between the HSP and VNP
• Perform duties on behalf of either the HSP or VNP
Please refer to the WRIX-I Specification Document for further information.
2.2.3 WRIX-D
The WRIX-D is the data clearing specification of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
Within this specification are clearly defined roles and responsibilities between Wi-Fi Roaming
Partners and the timeline of activities. WRIX-D utilizes the records generated from the WRIX-
I platform to perform service validation that protects both Wi-Fi Roaming Partners and
prevent any potential disputes during financial settlement.
Figure 9 - WRIX typical flow
The process begins by the VNP processing UDRs (usage details records) generated from the
WRIX-I RADIUS AAA system to validate, perform exception processing (if necessary) and
rate the records. After processing the rates, UDRs are transmitted to the HSP. The HSP
receives and processes the rated UDRs. Upon successful UDR processing the HSP
transmits a summary financial data (INPUT SFD) to the VNP as an acknowledgement to
record acceptance. The VNP uses the SFD to generate an invoice for the HSP. A HUB
provider may perform duties on behalf of either the VNP or the HSP.
Please refer to the WRIX-D Specification Document for further information.

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2.2.4 WRIX-F
WRIX-F is the Financial Settlement specification of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
By proceeding after the WRIX-D processing, where records are either validated and rated or
follow an exception processing method, the WRIX-F ensures that a smooth billing, payment
and receivables process occurs every time. The WRIX-F specification includes detailed
reports and a set timeline, which is displayed in this section.
WRIX-F begins by the VPN sending a Summary Financial Document (SFD) to the HSP. The
SFD summarizes the traffic usage that occurred on the VPN’s Wi-Fi Network by end-users of
the HSP. The SFD is used by the HSP to assist with creating a Net Settlement position
between the two Wi-Fi Roaming Partners. Alternatively, a HUB can be used to either deliver
all of the SFDs to each of the HSPs on behalf of the VNP or to receive all of the SFDs from
the VNPs on behalf of the HSP.
Once the SFDs are processed the Net Payment Reports (NPRs) are created and shared by
both parties. The NPR summarizes the payables and receivables between the Wi-Fi
Roaming Partners. Key data elements include settlement type, Net Payment, Net Payee,
Net Receiver and currency. A HUB provider can act on behalf of an HSP, VNP or both.
Upon acceptance of the NPR between the Wi-Fi Roaming Partners, the Wi-Fi Operator that
is in the Net Payee position will invoice the Net Payer (debtor) based upon the NPR values.
In case mismatches are identified in the invoice the Net Payer can raise a dispute. In case of
mismatch the disputes rules and limit levels of how to handle the payment are specified in the
bilateral agreement. Note: The settlement cannot be carried out in case the invoice not is
received. A HUB may act of behalf or either or both parties.
Once an invoice is created the debtor pays the Net Amount according to the method as
agreed upon in the bilateral agreement. Each party will bear its own bank fees for the
payment.
Figure 10 - WRIX-F Timeline
Please refer to the WRIX-F Specification Document for further information.

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2.2.5 WRIX-L
WRIX-L is the Locations Feed Formation and File Exchange Specifications of the Wireless
Broadband Alliance for the sharing of Wi-Fi Hotspot Location information.
The use of accurate and up-to-date information is crucial to ensure a high-quality experience
for end-users and maximum the revenue opportunity associated with network usage. Poor
quality or outdated location information will result in unsatisfied, frustrated end-customers of
the HSP and missed revenue opportunity of the VNP.
The WRIX-L specifies mandatory and operational data. Mandatory data includes critical data
elements such as provider information, location information and SSID. This information is
provided by the VNP so that the HSP is able to configure the end-user clients to display
Hotspot location information and to configure the device to connect to the VNP Hotspot once
the end-user is within range.
Often a HUB provider will receive WRIX-L data from all VNPs of an HSP and aggregate the
data in to one file. This offloads burden from the HSP from receiving data from many
sources and provides a single location for all Hotspot information.
There are three potential parties identified in the WRIX-L Specification:
HSP: Home Service Provider

• Provides a location file
• Distributes to roaming partners
• HSP: Home Service Provider
• Receives location file
• Uses the location file in connection client software distributed to subscribers
HUB: An optional intermediary between the HSP and VNP

• Act on behalf of either the HSP, VNP or both.
• Provides a centralized repository to receive or distribute WRIX-L information
• Please refer to the WRIX-L Specification Document for further information.
The full suite of the WRIX Specification documents is available HERE.

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Wi-Fi Roaming Contract Templates
We have developed a draft bilateral “remote access” or “roaming” template to assist parties in
developing their relationships to permit their respective subscribers to access each other’s
hot spots. We believe that as Wi-Fi becomes an increasingly important way for individuals to
access the Internet that service providers will desire to provide easy access beyond their own
footprint. We have designed this template to assist in that process. While we anticipate that
parties will negotiate individual agreements that suit their circumstances and needs, this
template might provide a sample starting point to assist parties in identifying the multiple
business, operational and legal issues involved.
We recognize that systems and legal regimes vary among the membership and so expect
this to be no more than a guide. We have attempted to draft this to provide a reasonable
division of risks while allocating responsibilities as much as possible to the party that should
be best able to control or mitigate a risk factor. To the greatest extent possible, the
vocabulary and defined terms used in this template are consistent with those used elsewhere
by WBA. While this template deals with issues that are at times technically, legally and
operationally complex, we have made every effort to draft this template in plain, clear
language with a minimum of “legalese” or technical jargon.
For more information please refer to the Templates available on the WBA’s public website
HERE.
2.3 Roaming architectures
To provide Wi-Fi roaming services, the VNP and HSP must have interoperability mechanisms
in place. Figure 2 illustrates the most common Wi-Fi-to-Wi-Fi roaming architecture based on
the WRIX architecture as defined in WBA documentation.
Figure 11 - Typical WLAN roaming architecture
The visited network provides the connectivity to the client devices but redirects the initial
authentication of the roaming client devices to the home network AAA servers, typically via
RADIUS proxy or from the Access Controller. Connection between the networks must be
secured using private circuits, MPLS or Virtual Private Network tunnels.

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The authentication can be done between the home and visitor networks while the accounting
and reconciliation of usage for billing purposes may be outsourced to a third party. RADIUS
accounting is not lossless, so accounting records between the home and visited network
providers might differ from each other. If enough resources cannot be allocated to compare
the records and manage the discrepancies, the accounting should be outsourced to a third
party.
Figure 3 does not show a policy controller, which is mandatory in some countries and for
operators of a certain size. It is used to set the access policies to roaming customers and can
provide feedback from both the visited and home network operators as well as the venue
where the users are located.
Operators may have different approaches when developing a roaming strategy. There are
two main scenarios available to operators to interconnect their networks, either through a
direct connection or by using a third party to facilitate that interconnection. For the latter there
could be several hybrid models from both operators using the same hub or just one operator
using a hub provider (see figures 4 and 5).
Figure 12 - WLAN roaming with direct, bilateral interconnection
Figure 13 - WLAN roaming bilateral interconnection using a third-party provider
In a Wi-Fi roaming environment, there are likely to be a large number of relatively small
Visited Wi-Fi Network Providers. A hotel chain, an airport, a convention centre, and perhaps
other venues, may all be a part of a subscriber’s Wi-Fi roaming experience. Thus, for the
home network service provider to deliver a compelling experience, the broader and denser
the visited Wi-Fi network, the more value for the end user.

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As such, the role of a Wi-Fi Roaming Hub is quite important in enabling service providers to
build and consolidate Wi-Fi footprint quickly and delivering a compelling experience to their
end users. The Wi-Fi Roaming Hub providers the following benefits:
• Consolidate Wi-Fi access across multiple networks/providers into a single ‘Visited

Network’
• Manage connectivity, accounting and access with and between a wide variety of Wi-Fi
access networks
• Reconcile accounting and usage records between wide variety of networks and
providers
To enhance the attractiveness of roaming service, a hub may propose and offer additional
services to the HSP (and their end users), that are absent in the earlier arrangements, after
reaching to an agreement with the HSP and VNP. It may be supplemented services unique to
the host, unique not only in the literal sense, but, for example, associated with the
peculiarities of the local legislation and so forth. In addition, it may be due to the technical
features of the VNP network.
For more information, please refer to the WBA Roaming Technical Guidelines white paper
available HERE.
3 NGH Market – Adoption Program
NGH Market Adoption Program is a package of initiatives WBA has created to help the
industry adopting the concept of NGH, not only for the authentication but essentially for the
Wi-Fi Roaming and interconnection.
This Adoption Program is divided into 5 main sections:
• Industry Engagement
• Trials & Demos
• WBA Technical Programs
• Certification
• Roaming Evolution
The section will be more of a showroom of everything WBA and its Members are doing in
terms of fostering its vision, but we’d like to highlight that this is a sounding call for action to
all the organizations that either have adopted HS2.0 or are on the fence and considering the
return of such investment.

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3.1 Industry Engagement
WBA has a dynamic liaison strategy that constantly looks to collaborate and bring awareness
of the work done with organizations.
Especially GSMA and Wi-Fi Alliance have been pivotal WBA partners in delivering a robust
Wi-Fi Roaming Framework:
WBA-Wi-Fi Alliance Liaison Collaboration

Regarding WFA’s Passpoint Certification Program and WBA’s Next Generation Hotspot
(NGH) Program, both organizations have agreed that these two programs are
complementary.
As described throughout this document both organizations have been collaborating along the
years to harmonize messages and promote complementary nature of the programs.
The inputs from both organizations, either via Liaison Statement or Joint Conference Calls
lead to several updates in specifications of both organizations.
WBA-GSMA Joint Taskforces

Over the years, WBA and GSMA have worked together to accomplish processual solutions
that fit both universes, in a continuous exploration of understanding and supporting the
development of the cellular and Wi-Fi industries in a coherent and coexisting way.
In the first joint GSMA WBA white paper on Wi-Fi Roaming the need to interwork between
the RADIUS and Diameter protocols was identified as an important issue that needed to be
addressed by the two industry bodies. This paper was the result of the GSMA and WBA
jointly looking at the problem and coming up with a set of recommendations that address the
needs of the GSMA and WBA in looking at the problem of RADIUS and Diameter
interworking.
Later, in a second joint force, both organizations focused on RADIUS and Diameter attributes
needed to support interworking between 3GPP and WBA Wi-Fi networks. In particular, those
required to support some of the most common Wi-Fi Roaming use cases, such as Voice over
IMS over Wi-Fi and data offload. This includes the relevant billing and authentication
message sequences, being limited to the identified and relevant interfaces based on the
principles of the 3GPP architecture. Specifically, for this work iteration, the team has
addressed only RADIUS to Diameter on the SWa interface.
Finally, and nowadays, WBA and GSMA have once again aligned resources, in light of the
upcoming 5G networks. Here’s the scope of the current joint task force between WBA and
GSMA:

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• Review differences between WBA UDR with the GSMA DDR
• Review and discuss format and structure of WBA AUR and the GSMA UDR
• Confirm approaches to encoding for summary and detail files
• Review any other impacts to clearing and settlement processes
WBA has a robust set of partnerships with other industry organizations, managed by CTO
Group. For more information: https://wballiance.com/about-us-2019/partners
3.2 Trials & Demos
NGH Live Demos

Over the years, one of the methods WBA members pursued to foster the adoption of HS2.0
and showcase the improved experience of an automatic connection to a Wi-Fi network to the
public was through the instalments of an NGH network in some key events across the globe.
These NGH Live Demos have been happening essentially in the following types of events:
• Wireless Global Congress (WGC)
• Mobile World Congress (MWC), Barcelona & Americas
• Partner events (Wi-Fi Alliance, HTNG, etc.)
The fact is that over the years, the NGH Live Demos have been showing a tremendous
improvement in terms of adoption, leading to an overall feeling that HS2.0, and
consequentially NGH, is becoming mainstream.
NGH Roaming Federation (Roaming Consortium OI)

Finally, on the Trials scope, the latest initiative launched in the industry was the NGH
Roaming Federation Trial in the Atlanta Wireless Global Congress (WGC) in May 2019.
This has corresponded to the technical basis for the concept of NGH Roaming Federation
that WBA has been envisioning over the years.
Already in 2019, WBA has acquired a Roaming Consortium OI that is aimed at being used
worldwide for facilitating:
• Realms configuration by operators and HUBs for Wi-Fi Roaming
• Network discovery phase when a device is trying to connect to an SSID
Through the usage of a single Roaming Consortium OI (or RCOI) and potential hierarchical
model, WBA is looking to help solving these issues that will unavoidably impact the user

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experience for the final user and the configuration time on the side of operators and roaming
HUBs.
For the latter, the fact is that a small set of roaming partners will not be a struggle, but when
we’re talking about international coverage of partners, hundreds of realms configured, that
might start representing a more delicate concern, not to mention that some Wi-Fi equipment
cannot sustain unlimited or a large number of realms configured.
The NGH Roaming Federation Trial, in May 2019, has been a nuclear first step towards the
creation of a Global Roaming Federation concept, where organizations have been able to
use the WBA RCOI to automatically establish connections with other Wi-Fi networks across
the globe, either operators, cities or venues.
3.3 WBA Technical Programs & Trials
NGH Provisioning Standardization & Trial

Enabling a HS2.0 network and have devices compatible is not enough to being able to
successfully establish connection, and have the end-user exploring the excellent experience
of automatic and seamless authentication.
The fact is that, very often, if an end-user does not have a plan contracted with his operator
that already incorporates Wi-Fi Roaming (what we could also call EAP-SIM authentication),
he’ll need to download a certificate to be able to connect to the HS2.0 network.
Now, if you have no access to data, for example in a foreign country, you will not be able to
connect to a HS2.0 network as you still need to, first, download the certificate (for an EAP-
TTLS authentication).
So, if the end-user needs to download a certificate and has no internet access, how is he
supposed to be able to connect to the HS2.0 network?
It truly becomes a significant problem and challenge to be overcome by the HS2.0 driven
industry.
Therefore, the WBA Members have joined forces to build an initiative towards building a
solution for automatically downloading a certificate when trying to access and authenticate in
a HS2.0 network.
Therefore, and as you can already anticipate, such solution will help overcoming the issue
mentioned; from the moment that devices and particularly the operating systems accept and
adopt the solution developed by the NGH Provisioning work stream, end-users will be able to
connect to HS2.0 enabled networks, without EAP-SIM authentication, and without needing to
connect first to another network to download a certificate.

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NGH Registry
As part of the WBA’s continuing efforts to enable Wi-Fi roaming across NGH networks, the
WBA has begun work on a new global registry which will allow service providers to exchange
information more effectively with NGH network operators. The goal is for the WBA to create
and maintain a database of Service Provider information needed by network operators and to
deliver the information via a mechanized exchange. The definition phase of this project is
currently underway.
ICP – Interoperability Compliance Program
This program is focused on providing operators with a common technical and commercial
framework for Wi-Fi roaming by utilizing the best practices as defined by the WBA’s WRIX
guidelines.
The ICP program defines a framework which states the basic requirements for roaming and
settlement to more advanced models. By doing this, the WBA's Interoperability Compliance
Program facilitates and simplifies the implementation and deployment of Wi-Fi roaming.
The objectives of the ICP program are as follows:
• Create different tiers of compliance for operators that best describe the capabilities of
their networks
• Facilitate the integration of roaming agreements among operators, with the guarantee
that operators follow correctly the WRIX specifications and roaming guidelines
• Facilitate the interoperability between operators to simplify and accelerate the
implementation of Wi-Fi roaming
• Support technical integration for roaming agreements, reducing the time to market
benefits, which is ultimately relevant for the new WBA members
• Provide a commutation exchange of Technical and Business Exchange documents
to/from a central repository.
Therefore, The WBA has summarized all these recommendations in a tool that provides its
operator members a tool called Interoperability Compliancy Checklist that has been then
provided to its Members operators. This form is used by operators to self-evaluate their
compliancy and roaming capabilities and to share this information with potential roaming
partners.
More precisely, the document allows each company to compare their current capabilities to
those of potential roaming partners and enable them to align their requirements. More than
20 Global Operators are now ICP compliant, examples are AT&T, BT, Boingo Wireless,
Orange, KT, SKT, among many others.

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3.4 Certification – Carrier Wireless Services Certification (CWSC)
The CWSC is the WBA equipment certification program leveraging testing performed by third
party independent Authorized Test Labs (ATL) to help industry players in accelerating the
deployment of services in Carrier Wi-Fi networks.
Created for the members (and sponsor partners), the CWSC provides unprecedented
capabilities to test the end-to-end carrier wireless ecosystem to guarantee consistent service
operation and user experience across the network, and how the devices behave when
roaming to other networks.
The Program is broken down into the following 4 Testing Streams:
 Wi-Fi Roaming & Offload
 AAA: Authentication Services & Proxy
 Operator Policy & User Experience
 Provisioning Services & Online Sign-up
Particularly the first testing stream – Wi-Fi Roaming & Offload -, is entirely aimed at helping
operators and device vendors or manufacturers to guaranteeing that these are compliant with
the best practices for Wi-Fi Roaming and Data Offload in all the possible scenarios.
Additionally, one of the distinct aspects of this Program is that the devices are tested in real
networks and real environments, which allows for a much more accurate detection of issues
or user experience that is not aligned with what is expected.
For more information on the CWSC Program, feel free to visit the following page or get in
touch with pmo@wballiance.com.

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4 Roaming Evolution – Time is now
4.1 Overview on WRIX Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
WBA’s WRIX architecture is used to support Wi-Fi roaming. In order for a roaming event to
occur and settle, authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) packets and data
clearing/financial settlement processing must have a transport medium available between the
Operators and WRIX-I Providers.
Traditionally, and as mentioned IPSec VPN has been the preferred connectivity method to
secure the WRIX-I interfaces, ensuring data confidentiality and security, with keys being pre-
shared and negotiated on a bilateral basis between WBA entities.
As the Wi-Fi roaming systems scales with increased adoption, WBA has examined options
for automating aspects of WRIX security. WBA’s IoT and Dynamic AAA project has analysed
the merits of automating the security of RADIUS exchanges using RadSec/TLS that has
been defined in IETF RFC 6614. This approach obsoletes the use of IP addresses and
shared MD5 secrets to identify other peers, enabling the use of alternative trust models, e.g.,
based on X.509 certificates.
Not only does RadSec/TLS look to automate the security of the connections between
RADIUS peers, but the use of TCP also provides improved timeout, reliability, and
fragmentation management compared to the conventional UDP based signaling.
RadSec/TLS may be configured on a RADIUS peer basis, allowing graceful introduction of
the capability by WRIX defined entities. WRIX defined entities implementing RADIUS/TLS
should be configured with a list of Certification Authorities for incoming connections.
4.2 Interconnection via RadSec
On the side of the Wi-Fi Roaming Interconnection, this has always been a complex and time-
consuming process for the non-telco players of the industry, and RadSeC technology,
supported by PKI Certificates, is seen as a good way to solve the typical challenges
promoted by the creation of IPSec tunnels.
Over this white paper we’ll share a Use Case based on our latest City Wi-Fi Roaming Trial
2018. One of the key takeaways from this year’s trial was to verify that even though many
other cities wanted to join the trial and participate, they weren’t yet prepared in terms of
enabling HS2.0 in their networks, and the setup, namely the creation of the IPSec tunnel,
reflected to be a much more challenging task than initially expected.
Therefore, simplifying the process to which the city, venue, or any sort of network, connect to
the Roaming HUB is key to accelerate and facilitate the adoption of what WBA believes is the

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best in class Wi-Fi experience: automatic authentication, seamless and secure, across home
and visited networks.
4.3 Network Identification & Data Clearing
The Roaming HUBs have also been seeing the difficulty level ramp up in terms of clearing
data and getting the top-notch analytics out of the network’s usage for their clients, due to the
fact that the Wi-Fi Roaming business has grown vastly over the last years.
One of the reasons that is blocking the perfect assessment of usage data is the fact that
many times the networks are poorly identified. Therefore, WBA Members are, once again,
leading the work in terms of mandating not only the use of the WRIX Framework for
operational best practices, but also a WBA Member ID to be input in all the networks so that
the organizations that run the data clearing and collect analytics can extract more relevant
data to be measured and managed by their clients.
Therefore, in order to facilitate roaming and to identify the companies involved, both the VNP
and the HSP must be identified as a part of all WRIX interactions through the use of an
identification code.
For companies using the WRIX framework for the interaction, both parties will have a
WBA_ID assigned or use another mutually agreed identification code such as a GSMA
TADIG code. The identification of the roaming partners involved in each WRIX exchange is
required. Each Access request sent by a visited network should contain the network’s
identification which will include either WBA_ID assigned to the network operator or another
mutually agreed code.

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5 WBA Workstreams – Call to action
5.1 Addressing Technical & Business Dimensions
The vision is clear, and the plan is set to achieve a greater level of end-user experience of
the roamers across the globe.
Nonetheless, the WBA Members are pro-actively working together on addressing any
technical and business challenges still faced by many service providers worldwide.
Here’s a snapshot of working items pointed out on our most recent Wi-Fi Roaming survey.
Key business working items:
 Expose clear return on investment (ROI) plans
 Facilitate finding and managing wholesale partners
 Support building business case (standalone and/or with cellular)
Key technical working items:
 Grow portfolio of compliant devices and operating systems
 Massify comptible infrastructure
These are the obstacles that the entire industry and WBA will keep addressing over the
upcoming years, and all stakeholders will need to proceed unified in the end-vision.
5.2 Global Roaming Federation
At the same time, as already mentioned over the document, WBA is encouraging the industry
to come together and create a Global Roaming Federation, where all the partners can
provide roaming capabilities to their end-users.
Also, for the first time, this federation will not be limited to service providers, but it will also
start evolving the cities and the venues for a truly global experience.
The foundation is based on a common of capabilities:
• WBA ID, allowing connection the networks in the global federation scheme but will
also allow much better data clearing and data analysis
• RCOI, already trialed during Wireless Global Congress. At the same time, the
• PKI Certificates / TLS / RadSec infrastructure will also allow for a quick spreading of
HS2.0 enabled infrastructure

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5.3 Join WBA and drive the momentum
Finally, on behalf of the WBA, we’d like to leave you a final note thanking for your attention in
considering the importance of Wi-Fi Roaming for a better-connected future.
We’d also like to invite you to engage with the WBA, either on our Work Groups and Projects,
or in our Wireless Global Congresses (WGC).
The WBA is organized in 5 key Work Groups, each one of these with projects underneath.
Please check the current structure and feel free to reach out through the
pmo@wballiance.com for any potential question or enquiries about the work of WBA.
Work Groups:
 Next Gen Work Group – exploring the development of Wi-Fi technology through the
new generation infrastructure and business verticals such as the home and in-flight
landscape.
 Roaming Work Group – leading the development of the Wi-Fi Roaming ecosystem
through new ways of establishing interconnection, identifying networks and roaming
across the globe.
 5G Work Group – exploring the coexistence and convergence between licensed and
unlicensed spectrum, namely how the Wi-Fi complements and is key in the
deployment of licensed spectrum technologies.
 IoT Work Group – in a similar line with the 5G Work Group, the IoT Work Group
explores the cooperation and interoperability between the unlicensed world.
 Testing & Interoperability Work Group – finally, the T&I Work Group works to
provide the Members with clarity and investigation about devices and features that can
highly affect the way the industry works.
WBA is a totally Members-driven organization aimed at driving the seamless and
interoperable services experience via Wi-Fi within the global environment ecosystem.
If your business depends on the development of Next Generation Wi-Fi services, Roaming
capabilities or coexistence and convergence with other license and unlicensed technologies,
WBA is the right forum for you to engage and lead the development of the industry.
Thank you
WBA PMO (pmo@wballiance.com)

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FIGURES & TABLES
Figure 1 - Roaming Stakeholders ........................................................................................................................... 5

Figure 6 - WRIX FrameworkFigure 1 - Roaming Stakeholders .............................................................................. 5
Figure 2 - Roaming Interconnection ........................................................................................................................ 5
Figure 3 – HS2.0 devices available per release ..................................................................................................... 6
Figure 4 - NGH networks estimation across the globe ........................................................................................... 6
Figure 5 - MWC NGH/HS2.0 usage evolution ........................................................................................................ 7
Figure 6 - WRIX Framework ................................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 7 - WRIX typical flow .................................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 8 - WRIX-F Timeline .................................................................................................................................. 15
Figure 9 - Typical WLAN roaming architecture ..................................................................................................... 17
Figure 10 - WLAN roaming with direct, bilateral interconnection .......................................................................... 18
Figure 11 - WLAN roaming bilateral interconnection using a third-party provider ................................................ 18
Table 1 - Credential type and EAP method .......................................................................................................... 13

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RELEVANT LINKS
Passpoint®
https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/passpoint
Wi-Fi Roaming Standards (WBA WRIX)
https://www.wballiance.com/resource/wi-fi-roaming-standard-wba-wrix-2/
Wi-Fi Roaming Business Case
https://www.wballiance.com/resource/wi-fi-roaming-business-case-white-paper/
Wi-Fi Roaming Guidelines (2012)
https://www.wballiance.com/resource/wi-fi-roaming-guidelines/

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APPENDIX
Complete 2018 Q4 WBA Wi-Fi Roaming survey results
Which region are you based?

40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Africa Asia Pacific Europe Middle East North America Latin America Other (please
specify)
How has your confidence towards investing in Wi-Fi changed over the
last 12 months?
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
More confident Less confident No change on No plans for Don't know / Not No plans for
about investing in about investing in investment plan in investing in Wi-Fi applicable investing in Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Please tell us why?

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How has your confidence in investing in unlicensed wireless changed
over the last 12 months?
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
More confident Less confident No change on No plans for Don't know / Not No plans for
about investing in about investing in investment plan investing in applicable investing in
unlicensed wireless unlicensed wireless unlicensed wireless unlicensed
wirelessPlease tell
us why?
Please rate the importance of licensed and unlicensed convergence

and coexistence in your CURRENT network strategy?
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
Crucial
25.00%
Very Important
20.00% Important
Somewhat Important
15.00%
Not Important
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Licensed and unlicensed network Licensed and unlicensed network coexistence
convergence

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Please rate the importance of licensed and unlicensed convergence
and coexistence in your FUTURE network strategy?
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
Crucial
Very Important
30.00%
Important
Somewhat Important
20.00%
Not Important
10.00%
0.00%
Licensed and unlicensed network Licensed and unlicensed network coexistence
convergence
Please select the TOP 3 drivers for investing

in Next Gen Wi-Fi?
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
To enable To enable To improve To increase To increase To increase Not Applicable Other (please
seamless seamless the customer offload from revenue revenue specify)
access access across quality of cellular opportunities opportunities
between Wi-Fi (different) Wi- experience networks through new through
and licensed Fi networks and reduce consumer offload
networks churn services partnerships
Option manually added:
• To address seamlessly IoT between networks

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Do you have Wi-Fi roaming agreements in place?
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Yes No Planning to have Not Yet Don't Know / Not
Applicable
What are the Top 3 drivers for your Wi-Fi roaming strategy?
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
User End user Leverage Additional Enhanced Enhanced Increased Market City Wi-Fi Other
convenience quality of Wi-Fi / revenue coverage bandwidth connectivity differentiator Roaming (please
/ retention experience mobile stream (e.g. indoor (e.g. data options to product specify)
of wireless integration coverage) aggregation) the customer
service (e.g.
heightened
connectivity)
Options manually added:
• MNO service enhancement

• Wi-Fi offload for customers out of footprint

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What are the Top 3 most important aspects of Wi-Fi roaming to you?
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Do you have a Next Gen Hotspot (Passpoint/HS2.0) network?

60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No Don't Know / Not Applicable

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When do you plan to deploy a Next Gen Hotspot (Passpoint/HS2.0)
network?
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Already have 2018/2019 2020 2020+ Don't Know / Not We won't be
Applicable deploying
NGHPlease tell us
why
Options manually added for “We won’t be deploying NGH”
• Until full iOS + Android device compliance for HS2.0 R1+R2

• We can't get straight answers on this technology and if anyone uses it
Have you deployed and do you support Passpoint (R1 and R2)?
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes, R1 only Yes, R1 and R2 No Don't Know

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What business barriers have you encountered when deploying
NGH/Passpoint, the prime technology to enable Wi-Fi roaming?
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Finding and Lack of clear Lack of General lack Cost of Wi-Fi Currently not No barriers Other (please
managing ROI support from of material to deployment wholesale competitive specify)
wholesale venue help build current prices vs. existing
partners owners business cellular
case wholesale
agreements
• Devices support for HS2.0

• We monetize through advertising & captive portal
• Provisioning and reliable implementation
• Lack of support from Cellular carriers
• Provisioning customers with HS2.0 profile and lack of HS2.0 support in access points / customer
gateways

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What technical barriers have you encountered when deploying
NGH/Passpoint?
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Shortage of compliant Shortage of compliant Shortage of available No barriers Other (please specify)
devices operating systems infrastructure
• Manufacture software deficiencies in support of it

• Provisioning using standardised processes
• Provisioning profiles on open SSID
What is the percentage of your network that currently supports

NGH/Passpoint?
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Currently no footprint Less than 10% Between 10% - 50% More than 50% Don't know / Not
supporting applicable

Version: 1.0
What percentage of your user base has been provisioned to support
NGH/Passpoint?
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Currently no user base has Less than 25% Between 25% - 75% More than 75%
been provisioned
What type of end devices do you offer Passpoint support on?

60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
iOS Android Windows Don't know / Not Other (please specify)
applicable
• Up to the customers - subscriptions

Version: 1.0
Do you purchase devices for your end customers?
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No Don't Know / Not Applicable If no, please tell us why
If yes, do you require Passpoint to be supported on the devices?

80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes, R1 only Yes, R1 and R2 Don't know / Not Don't Know / Not No, please tell us why.
applicable Applicable

Version: 1.0
Regarding the deployment of Passpoint R2 features, what is your
perspective? (Features: online sign-up, operator policy, remediation)
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Currently Currently Do not have Do not have Do not have Plan to Plan to run Don't know / Other
have R2 have R2 R2 enabled R2 enabled R2 enabled update and trials of R2 Not (please
enabled enabled because do due to lack due to lack enable R2 network applicable specify)
network but network but not believe in of of devices to network capabilities
lack devices do not R2 added infrastructure test as soon as
to test and believe in R2 business to implement they become
launch added benefits and test available
service business
benefits
• There is a lack of R2 devices to test and provision, plus the R1 features needed to be reliable
• Likely will not pursue R2, and will wait for potential R3 with NGH provisioning optimizations
In general, what is your company position regarding Passpoint R2?

60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Have requested vendor partners to Have not yet requested vendor partners Have no plans to request vendor
support R2 features and make them to support R2 features but plan to do it partners to support R2 features
available to the market
• With announcement of Multipath TCP may not be necessary

• Limitations of R2, provisioning challenges, requires open SSID

Version: 1.0
Please select your top 5 Wi-Fi monetization strategies, prioritising them in
terms of importance for the next 12 months
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Roaming ROI from Offload Public Advertising Marketing Location Enterprise Wi-Fi Streaming
offload wholesale Access and Based Services Calling and Video
Analytics Services other OTT
services
(Wi-Fi First
Services)
How are your current roaming capabilities implemented

(multiple responses are allowed)
1.85
1.8
1.75
1.7
1.65
1.6
1.55
1.5
Interconnection via Interconnection direct Data clearing by Data clearing direct Financial settlement Financial settlement
roaming hub to partners roaming hub with partners by roaming hub direct with partners

Version: 1.0
Which type of retail plan do you offer or plan to offer?
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Paid Cellular + Paid Cellular + Paid Wi-Fi only Free Wi-Fi only No offer with Wi- Don't know / Not Other (please
Paid Wi-Fi Free Wi-Fi Fi applicable specify)
Bundle Bundle
• Not offering retail at this time.

• Different plans for different customers
• Building owners pay for Wi-Fi Calling, sell subscriptions to residents of buildings
During the last year, how did your Wi-Fi roaming business grow
in terms of revenue?
50.00%
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
0 - 10% 10 - 25% 25 - 50% 50% + Don't know / Not Other % growth in
applicable terms of total data
usage

Version: 1.0
During the last year, how has Wi-Fi affected your cellular roaming
business? Adding Wi-Fi has:
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Increased cellular Increased the Lowered average Increased average Had no effect on Other (please
roaming amount of data cost per Mb of data cost per Mb of data cellular roaming specify)
subscriptions roaming customers consumed consumed usage
use
What are the main user-type targets for your Wi-Fi roaming business?
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Inbound international Inbound business Outbound international Outbound business Other (please specify)
tourists users tourists users

Version: 1.0
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ACRONYM /
DEFINITION
ABBREVIATION
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
AAA Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
AKA Authentication and Key Agreement
AKA’ Authentication and Key Agreement - Prime
AP Access Point
APEX Airline Passenger Experience Association
APN Access Point Name
AUR Access Usage Records
AVP Attributed-Value Pairs
CAPTCHA Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
CBED Commercial and Business Exchange Document
CWSC Carrier Wireless Services Certification
DEA Diameter Edge Agent
EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol
ePDG Evolved Packet Data Gateway
eSIM Embedded Subscriber Identity Module
GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node
GPRS General Packet Radio Services
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
GSMA GSM Association

Version: 1.0
GT Global Title
GTPv2 GPRS Tunneling Protocol V2
HLR Home Location Register
HS2.0 Hotspot 2.0
HSP Home Service Provider
HSS High Speed Synchronization
ICP Interoperability Compliance Program
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
IPLC International Private Leased Circuits
IPSec Internet Protocol Security
ISP Internet Service Provider
LED Light-Emitting Diode
LTE Long Term Evolution – 4G
MAP Mobile Application Protocol
mHSP Mobile Home Service Provider
MNO Mobile Network Operator
MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching
NGH Next Generation Hotspot
NPR Net Payment Reports
OSU Online Sign-Up
Passpoint ® Hotspot 2.0 Specification & Certification from Wi-Fi Alliance

Version: 1.0
PDN-GW Packet Data Network Gateways
PMIPv6 Proxy Mobile IPv6
RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
RadSec Secure RADIUS Protocol
RFC Remote Function Call
SAA Seamless Air Alliance
SFD Summary Financial Data
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SSID Service Set Identifier
STP Signal Transfer Point
SWa 3GPP interface between the untrusted non-3GPP IP access and the 3GPP AAA Server or Proxy.
TED Technical Exchange Document
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TLS Transport Layer Security
TTLS Trivial Transport Layer Security
TWAG Trusted Wireless Access Gateway
UAM Universal Access Method
UDR Usage Details Records
UE User Experience Recommendations
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service
USIM UMTS Subscriber Identity Module
VoiP Voice over IP
VPN Virtual Private Network

Version: 1.0
WBA Wireless Broadband Alliance
WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access
WISPr Wireless Internet Service Provider roaming
WLC Wireless LAN Controller
WRIX Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange
WRIX-I RADIUS Interconnection Specifications
WRIX-D Data Clearing Specifications
WRIX-F Financial Settlement Specifications
WRIX-L Locations Feed Formation and File Exchange Specifications

Version: 1.0
WBA ROAMING PAPERS PARTICIPANTS LIST
ORGANIZATION EDITORIAL TEAM
Accuris Networks Finbarr Coghlan
AT&T Erinn Hall
AT&T Tim Tweedle
AT&T Jeff Mabe
BT Steve Dyett
BSG Wireless Betty Cockrell
BSG Wireless Michael Sym
Boingo Wireless Kishore Raja
CableLabs Luther Smith
Comcast Cole Reinwand
Cisco Mark Grayson
Pareteum (iPass) Blair Bullock
Syniverse Dan Klaeren
NTT DOCOMO Masaroni Higuchi
Orange Nigel Bird
Orange Samuel Keurmeur
Orange Gerasimos Floratos
WBA Pedro Mouta
WBA Bruno Tomás
For other publications please visit:

wballiance.com/resources/wba-white-papers
To participate in future projects, please contact:

pmo@wballiance.com

Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) : Wi-Fi Roaming & Evolution White Paper

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Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) : Wi-Fi Roaming & Evolution White Paper

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Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Wi-Fi Roaming & Evolution White Paper

Follow Wireless Broadband Alliance at:

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 1

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) – What does it mean?

1 Introduction - Roaming Vision

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

1.1 The Wi-Fi Roaming business case

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Figure 4 - Roaming Interconnection

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Device Type Estimated number

Access Points / Routers 650+

Client Devices (Phones, Tablets and Laptops) 1650+

IoT, Smart Home, Peripherals 200+

Figure 5 – HS2.0 devices available per release

NGH Networks estimated over the world

Figure 6 - NGH networks estimation across the globe

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Figure 7 - MWC NGH/HS2.0 usage evolution

Wi-Fi Roaming Survey

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

2.1 Hotspot 2.0 / Passpoint®

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

This section provides an overview of WBA’s work in Wi-Fi Roaming, including:

• Roaming supporting documentation

• Global NGH Registry

Setting up Roaming Service

The WBA roaming process is summarized under the term WRIX.

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

WRIX is a set of service specifications published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance to

Figure 8 - WRIX Framework

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Please refer to the WRIX-N Specification Document for further information.

There are three potential parties identified in the WRIX-I Specification:

HSP: Home Service Provider

VNP: Visited Network Provider

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Please refer to the WRIX-I Specification Document for further information.

Figure 9 - WRIX typical flow

Please refer to the WRIX-D Specification Document for further information.

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

WRIX-F is the Financial Settlement specification of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

Figure 10 - WRIX-F Timeline

Please refer to the WRIX-F Specification Document for further information.

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

There are three potential parties identified in the WRIX-L Specification:

HSP: Home Service Provider

HUB: An optional intermediary between the HSP and VNP

The full suite of the WRIX Specification documents is available HERE.

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

2.3 Roaming architectures

Figure 11 - Typical WLAN roaming architecture

Report Title: Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)

Figure 12 - WLAN roaming with direct, bilateral interconnection

Figure 13 - WLAN roaming bilateral interconnection using a third-party provider