WBA Annual Industry Report 2018

WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19
Monica Paolini, Senza Fili
Source: Wireless Broadband Alliance

Author(s): Monica Paolini, Senza Fili
Issue date: October 2018
Version: 0.10
Document status: Draft
ABOUT THE WIRELESS BROADBAND ALLIANCE
Founded in 2003, the mission of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to accelerate global
leadership for enabling of wireless services that are seamless, secure and interoperable. Building on
our heritage of Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) and carrier Wi-Fi, the WBA will continue to drive and
support the adoption of Next Generation Wireless services across the entire public Wi-Fi ecosystem,
including IoT, Converged Services, Smart Cities, 5G, etc. Today, membership includes major fixed
operators such as BT, Comcast and Charter Communications; seven of the top 10 mobile operator
groups (by revenue) and leading technology companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Huawei
Technologies, Google and Intel.
The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Intel,
KT Corporation, Liberty Global, NTT DOCOMO and Orange. For a complete list of current
WBA members, please click here.
Follow Wireless Broadband Alliance at:

www.twitter.com/wballiance
http://www.facebook.com/WirelessBroadbandAlliance
https://www.linkedin.com/company/wireless-broadband-alliance/
ABOUT SENZA FILI
Senza Fili provides advisory support on wireless technologies and services. At Senza Fili we have in-
depth expertise in financial modeling, market forecasts and research, strategy, business plan support,
and due diligence. Our client base is international and spans the entire value chain: clients include
wireline, fixed wireless, and mobile operators, enterprises and other vertical players, vendors, system
integrators, investors, regulators, and industry associations. We provide a bridge between
technologies and services, helping our clients assess established and emerging technologies, use
these technologies to support new or existing services, and build solid, profitable business models.
Independent advice, a strong quantitative orientation, and an international perspective are the
hallmarks of our work.
www.senzafiliconsulting.com
@senzafilicons
Follow us on LinkedIn
Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Wireless Broadband Alliance Confidential & Proprietary
Issue Date: October 2018 3 Copyright © 2018 Wireless Broadband Alliance
Version: 1.0
UNDERTAKINGS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The views and statements expressed in this Document are those of Senza Fili, and they should not
be inferred to reflect the position of the sponsors or other parties involved in the report. The Document
can be distributed only in its integral form and acknowledging the source. No selection of the material
in the Document may be copied, photocopied, or duplicated in any form or by any means, or
redistributed without express written permission from Senza Fili. While the document is based on
information that we consider accurate and reliable, Senza Fili makes no warranty, express or implied,
as to the accuracy of the information in this document. Senza Fili assumes no liability for any damage
or loss arising from reliance on this information.
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 organizations 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 organizations who may have contributed to this document)
howsoever arising for any such inaccuracies, errors, incompleteness, suitability, merchantability,
fitness and non-infringement are expressly excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. None of the
contributors make any representation or offer to license any of their intellectual property rights to the
other, or to any third party. Nothing in this information or communication shall be relied on by any
recipient.
The WBA also disclaims any responsibility for identifying the existence of or for evaluating the
applicability of any claimed copyrights, patents, patent applications, or other intellectual property
rights, and will take no position on the validity or scope of any such rights. The WBA takes no position
regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to
pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to
which any license under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
made any effort to identify any such rights.
Neither the WBA nor any of the other organizations 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.

Version: 1.0
CONTENTS
1 Introduction: Wi-Fi Keeps Pushing the Envelope............................................................................8

2 A year in Wi-Fi. Interview with JR Wilson, Chairman of the Wireless Broadband Alliance............11
3 The Evolution of Wi-Fi.................................................................................................................... 3
3.1 IEEE 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6: The Next Generation in Performance...............................................3
Conversation: Planning the Transition to 11ax Interview with Dongjun Lee, Director of Network
Strategy, KT...................................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 Expansion to New Bands: WiGig and HaLow..........................................................................8
3.3 Improved Roaming and Management of Mobile Devices.........................................................8
3.4 WPA3: The Next Generation in Security..................................................................................9
4 The Expanding Wi-Fi Ecosystems................................................................................................11
4.1 Home Networks..................................................................................................................... 11
4.2 Enterprise and Venue Owners...............................................................................................12
4.3 Carriers and Service Providers..............................................................................................13
4.4 IoT and IIoT........................................................................................................................... 13
4.5 Connected Cities.................................................................................................................... 13
4.6 Connecting the Unconnected.................................................................................................13
5 Wi-Fi Roaming: A Better User Experience and Revenue Opportunity with NGH and Passpoint. .15
Conversation: Passpoint’s Prime Time Interview with Melody Eclavea, Director of Interconnection
Agreements at AT&T....................................................................................................................... 20
5.1 Passpoint and NGH at Mobile World Congress 2018: Case study of Wi-Fi in a hyper-dense
environment..................................................................................................................................... 21
5.2 Expanding Passpoint to Enterprise Roaming Relationships.....................................................3
5.3 Intermediary Hubs Create a Roaming Market Place................................................................3
6 The Next Frontier: IoT.................................................................................................................... 6
6.1 The IoT Addressable Market for Wi-Fi.....................................................................................6
6.2 Meeting the IoT Challenges.....................................................................................................8
6.3 IoT Roaming with NGH, Passpoint and WRIX.......................................................................10
6.4 Passpoint Enables Asset-Tracking........................................................................................10
6.5 Optimizing Wi-Fi Roaming for IoT..........................................................................................11
8 Bridging the Digital Divide with Wi-Fi: Smart Cities, Rural Areas, and Developing Countries.......14
Conversation: With the People, not to the People: Smart Cities Create Communities Interview with
Julie Snell, Bristol is Open............................................................................................................... 15
9 Expanding Wi-Fi Reach in New Unlicensed Bands........................................................................5
9.1 New Spectrum Bands for IoT and Hyperdense Environments.................................................7
9.2 New Unlicensed Bands in the US: 6 GHz and 5.9 GHz...........................................................7
10 The future of Wi-Fi beyond 11ax.................................................................................................8
10.1 Edge Computing.................................................................................................................8
10.2 Network Slicing................................................................................................................... 9
10.3 Blockchain......................................................................................................................... 10
10.4 Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Analytics.....................................................11
11 Wireless Convergence: Wi-Fi and 5G Better Together..............................................................12
11.1 Technology Differentiation................................................................................................12
11.2 Closing the Gap................................................................................................................ 13
11.3 11ax and 5G..................................................................................................................... 13
11.4 Pushing the Envelope on Convergence............................................................................15
11.5 Integrating Wi-Fi and Cellular............................................................................................17
Conversation: Why We Need Convergence Interview with Dr. Derek Peterson, CTO, Boingo
Wireless........................................................................................................................................... 19
12 The next year in Wi-Fi: Initiatives and focus areas at the WBAf..................................................2
13 Summary..................................................................................................................................... 3
14 Summary..................................................................................................................................... 3
Wi-Fi 6: New features........................................................................................................................... 9
Figure
Figure 1: WBA Industry Survey: Confidence in Wi-Fi............................................................................8

Figure 2. Global IP Traffic by Access Technology and Hotspots Worldwide.........................................9
Figure 3. WBA Industry Survey: Wireless Technologies Planned Deployments...................................5
Figure 4. Starbucks Reserve at Jongro Tower, the largest Starbucks location in South Korea, and a
KT 11ax hotspot. Source: Starbucks...............................................................................7
Figure 5. WBA Industry Survey: Drivers to Wi-Fi Deployments...........................................................14
Figure 6: WBA Industry Survey: NGH Passpoint Adoption.................................................................16
Figure 7. WBA Industry Survey: Meeting Customer Expectations in In-Home Wi-Fi Services............18
Figure 8. WBA Industry Survey: In-Home Wi-Fi Services...................................................................19
Figure 9. WBA Industry Survey: Roaming in City Wi-Fi Networks.......................................................19
Figure 10. WISPr and Passpoint Connections. Source: AT&T............................................................21
Figure 11.NBED. Source: NBED........................................................................................................... 2
Figure 12. NBED. Source: NBED..........................................................................................................4
Figure 13. WBA Industry Survey: Monetization.....................................................................................5
Figure 14. WBA Industry Survey: Development Challenges.................................................................6
Figure 15.NBED. Source: NBED........................................................................................................... 7
Figure 16. WBA Industry Survey: Applications Driving Network and Traffic Growth.............................8
Figure 17. NBED. as it is mentioned in the diagram............................................................................13
Figure 18. WBA Industry Survey: Traffic Growth in Urban Areas........................................................15
Figure 19. NBED. Source: Bristol is Open............................................................................................2
Figure 20. WBA Industry Survey: Public Wi-Fi Services.......................................................................4
Figure 21. NBED. Source: Bristol is Open............................................................................................4
Figure 22. WBA Industry Survey: Public Wi-Fi Challenges...................................................................5
Figure 23. Illustration of the Spectrum Shortfall per Region, by Year and Demand level. Source:
NBED............................................................................................................................. 6
Figure 24. Economic Value of Unlicensed Spectrum in the US in Billions. Source: Telecom Advisory
Services.......................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 25. WBA Industry Survey: Spectrum and Regulatory Policy......................................................8
Figure 26. WBA Industry Survey: Multi-access Edge Computing..........................................................9
Figure 27. NBED. Source: NBED........................................................................................................10
Figure 28. WBA Industry Survey: Cloud, Big Data, AI, Digital Identify, Blockchain.............................12
Figure 29. Uptake of 5G and 11ax Based on the Number of Connections. Source: ABI (11ax) [11],
GSMA (5G) [12]............................................................................................................ 14
Figure 30. Enhanced 802.11 Capabilities Compared with IMT-Advanced and IMT-2020. Source:
Wireless Broadband Alliance........................................................................................14
Figure 31. WBA Industry Survey: Network Transformation and 5G....................................................15
Figure 32. WBA Industry Survey: Licensed and Unlicensed Convergence and Coexistence..............16
Figure 33. WBA Industry Survey: Wireless Technologies Planned Deployments...............................17
Figure 34. Network Convergence. Source: Boingo Wireless...............................................................19
TABLES
Table 1. 11ax Benefits. Source: WBA, Senza Fili.................................................................................4

Table 2. Technology Evolution with 11ax. Source: Intel, Qualcomm, WBA, Senza Fili.........................4
Table 3. WPA3 Benefits. Source: Senza Fili.........................................................................................9
Table 4. Building Blocks of Wi-Fi Roaming.........................................................................................15
Table 5. Wi-Fi at Barcelona's MWC 2018. Source: Cisco.....................................................................2
Table 6. Current IoT Wireless Technologies Source: NBED.................................................................9
Table 7. Which Use Cases Need IoT Roaming? Source: NBED.........................................................10
Executive Summary

Version: 1.0
1 Introduction: Wi-Fi Keeps Pushing the Envelope
It has been over 20 years since Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ratified the
802.11 standard that is the foundation for Wi-Fi. In a wireless world where technologies rapidly reach
maturity and are consigned to a long-tail legacy decline, Wi-Fi can flaunt its longevity, its expanding
role in the connectivity fabric, and its unremitted commitment to innovation, as attested by the
continued confidence in Wi-Fi (Error: Reference source not found).
With the current growth in our connectivity needs and expectations, as captured by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) IMT-2020 vision, the evolution of Wi-Fi is accelerating and spanning
new directions:
Adoption. Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in mobile devices, with yearly shipment of 3 billion devices (Wi-Fi
Alliance) and there are more Wi-Fi devices (9 billion, Wi-Fi Alliance) than people (7.6 billion) or
cellular subscribers (5.2 billion, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA)
NBED). By 2021, Cisco Virtual Networking Index (VNI) predicts that there will by 3.5 devices per
person [4]. The wireless Local area network (LAN) market revenues are expected to grow to $18.2
billion by 2022 (Dell’Oro NBED).
Connectivity. Wi-Fi accounts for most of wireless traffic today. In the US, Wi-Fi carries 80% of mobile
device traffic (Ovum NBED). Cisco VNI forecasts Wi-Fi traffic to account for 49% of global IP traffic by
2020 [4].
User experience. Better performance and functionality continue to improve the quality of experience.
The growing adoption of Passpoint makes the connection of Wi-Fi devices seamless and effortless,
and increases Wi-Fi use in public networks.
Figure 1: WBA Industry Survey: Confidence in Wi-Fi

Version: 1.0
Use cases. The Wi-Fi ecosystem is
widening, as new use cases gain
ground, enabled by Wi-Fi enhanced
performance. Telecom Advisory
Services estimated that in the US
unlicensed spectrum generated
$525 billion in economic value in
2017, and that this figure will reach
$834 billion by 2020 [11].
IoT. Growth in internet of things
(IoT) is a major expansion
opportunity for Wi-Fi, but is also
adds challenges with the massive
number and variety of connected
devices to support, and the wide
range of requirements to meet.
Technology evolution. All the
eyes are on 802.11ax-based Wi-Fi
6, the new air interface that will
strengthen Wi-Fi’s ability to meet
the IMT-2020 use cases,
densification requirements, and IoT
applications, and that is on
schedule for ratification in Q4 2019.
Additional evolution areas include
improved spectrum use, integration
with 5G and legacy cellular, and
roaming. In June 2018, the
introduction of Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA3) was a major update
to keep up with the increased
security requirements from user
access and new use cases and IoT.
Spectrum bands. Wi-Fi needs
more spectrum to meet the
increasing traffic volumes from
individual users and IoT devices.
Figure 2. Global IP Traffic by Access Technology and
On the technology front, with WiGig, Hotspots Worldwide.
Wi-Fi is moving to hyper-dense
architectures in the 60 GHz, and to the long-range, low-bandwidth IoT services in the 900 MHz band.
On the regulatory front, new allocations of unlicensed spectrum in the 6 GHz may significantly
increase the spectrum available to Wi-Fi.

Version: 1.0
Convergence. Wi-Fi and 5G are evolving
in parallel to create a pervasive The Wireless Broadband Alliance
connectivity fabric for people and things. Since 2013, the WBA is committed to expanding
But to meet our society connectivity needs, Wi-Fi access and making Wi-Fi connectivity easier
Wi-Fi, 5G and other wireless access for all users, businesses, cities and things,
technologies also have to converge to primarily by promoting interoperability among
operators, service providers and all other players
increase the efficiency of wireless
in the Wi-Fi ecosystem.
networks, make them more cost effective,
Over the last year, WBA has continued to work on
and reliably provide the user experience Hotspot 2.0 and to promote its adoption. It has
and performance needed to support also worked on expanding it Wi-Fi roaming
existing and new use cases. platform to IoT to facilitate the use of Wi-Fi for IoT
for applications where the device is mobile or
This report discusses these trends in the nomadic.
evolution of Wi-Fi, how the role and reach Over the next year, WBA will focus on the launch
of Wi-Fi is expanding, and how the of Wi-Fi 6 (11ax), coexistence and integration with
technology evolution contributes to this other wireless technologies, in licensed and
expansion. We explore how Wi-Fi, 5G and unlicensed bands, and in establishing a stronger
foundation for IoT applications using Wi-Fi.
other wireless technologies are converging
See section 11 for more information on WBA’s
– and have to converge – to meet the
activities.
requirements from users and IoT services.
The report includes interviews with WBA
members with hands-on experience on
operating Wi-Fi networks, case studies,
and the results of the WBA annual survey to feel the pulse of the Wi-Fi ecosystem.

Version: 1.0
1 A year in Wi-Fi. Interview with JR Wilson, Chairman of the Wireless
Broadband Alliance
In this interview, JR Wilson, the Chairman of the WBA, talks about this year’s achievements at the
WBA, and about what we should expect from the WBA and the Wi-Fi ecosystem in the next year.
Question: JR, what do you see as the WBA’s major achievement in the past year?
JR: 2018 was the year that Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) and Passpoint became mainstream.
We’re seeing that play out, in the US and elsewhere. It is the culmination of many years of work to
establish a strategy to make Wi-Fi seamless, secure, and interoperable. Anywhere we deploy NGH,
whether it’s at a large event like Mobile World Congress (MWC) or other events, we’re seeing the
levels of consumption and user experience spike. The user experience improves dramatically.
Question: What makes the user experience better with Passpoint and NGH?
JR: The user doesn’t have to do anything to get connected to the local Wi-Fi network. The SIM- and
EAP-based authentication takes place automatically. I work at AT&T, and as a cellular operator,
AT&T treats Wi-Fi roaming like roaming in a cellular world. With both cellular and Wi-Fi, we like to
steer our customers to the network that has the best coverage and the best quality. When Wi-Fi is the
better network, with the best coverage and the best throughput, in most instances we put customers
onto that network. First, they’re getting a better experience, which should make them happier.
Second, they tend to consume more data and services.
Question: What does the Wi-Fi evolution cover beyond Passpoint?
JR: IEEE 802.11ax is a very important new step forward in the evolution of Wi-Fi. That’s where
unlicensed and licensed come together. At the WBA we have worked closely with Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) and other organizations to ensure licensed and unlicensed convergence,
because this should lend itself to better coverage, lower latency, and higher throughput – as well as
increased cost efficiency and a wider capability set. We just published a paper [19] on how 802.11ax
can deliver 5G use cases while supporting existing networks and devices.
Question: How is the role of Wi-Fi changing within the overall wireless connectivity fabric?
JR: With 802.11ax, Wi-Fi will become an integral component of the operators’ small cell strategy. A
Wi-Fi 11ax network will truly look, feel, and touch no different than cellular. In the broader context, the
role Wi-Fi is changing within the wireless fabric and becomes a key wireless access technology for
broadband carriers, MSOs, enterprises, venue owners and cities.
Question: How does Wi-Fi fit into the IoT ecosystem?
JR: Hundreds of millions of devices don’t have cellular chips in them, and they run off of Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi
will continue to be a main technology in IoT in the future, and it will drive new use cases – and that
means new challenges too. At the WBA, we explored the IoT opportunity in a white paper [20] and
we plan to introduce new programs to support new IoT use cases and scenarios.

Version: 1.0
Question: What are the main challenges that Wi-Fi faces today?
JR: Authentication can still be a challenge for the customer. Integration and management of new
devices into the home or enterprise can be challenging, especially as their number grows. As
technology and capabilities evolve, and use cases expand, complexity grows as well, and Wi-Fi has
to keep ahead to manage this. Our goal is to make sure the user doesn’t see this complexity, and to
make Wi-Fi connectivity even easier than it is today.
Question: How can smart cities benefit from Wi-Fi, beyond connectivity for locals and visitors?
JR: Wi-Fi access will remain important, but Wi-Fi networks will also manage critical functions and data
beyond connectivity. Cities will use Wi-Fi to manage traffic and parking, provide citizen services, or to
monitor pollution, to give a few examples. It’s a holistic view, in which higher quality of service, and
higher levels of security are becoming as important in Wi-Fi networks as they are in cellular networks.
Question: How is the WBA addressing the opportunities – and challenges – of IoT?
JR: We want to make Wi-Fi better, faster, more efficient, and, again, more focused on the customer
experience, not only for the phone or tablet users, but also for IoT applications. At the WBA, we have
been building a solid framework for IoT [21] and this work will continue in 2019. We are working on
streamlining authentication and interoperability, on improving security, and in offering a seamless
experience.
Question: What is the focus for the WBA for over the year ahead?
JR: We will continue to work on IoT – including dynamic IoT roaming and authentication of IoT
devices – and network slicing. Specifically, we will continue to explore how to deploy network slicing
of Wi-Fi, and how Wi-Fi will preserve its role in a converged environment in which cellular networks
evolve to 5G, and Wi-Fi evolves to 11ax. We are working on best practices and guidelines for in-home
Wi-Fi – for instance to allow users to map all hotspots within the house to the same Service Set
Identifier (SSID) [22].
Question: The World Wi-Fi Day is a good opportunity to reflect on the growth of Wi-Fi, and its further
potential for expansion. Why did the WBA start the World Wi-Fi Day, and how did it go?
JR: We started it to build awareness around the benefits of Wi-Fi, as a cost-effective access
technology that can reach millions and millions of people. Connectivity changes people’s lives, gives
them knowledge, allows them to just grow, develop and embark on opportunities that are not available
in an unconnected world. We are very pleased that about half the world’s population today has
access to the internet, but that only highlights the problem, that half the world’s population still doesn’t
have access to the internet. We started the World Wi-Fi Day because we believe that Wi-Fi is one of
the simplest, most cost-effective ways to get us there.
Question: With 5G, Wi-Fi and cellular will finally converge. Who will benefit from that?
JR: The convergence of Wi-Fi and cellular – or unlicensed and licensed – should give us better
coverage, lower latency, and higher throughput, and it will help us deploy cost-efficient networks and

Version: 1.0
expand the capability set. In turn, this will reinforce the foundation for Wi-Fi to give users seamless,
secure and robust connectivity.

Version: 1.0
2 The Evolution of Wi-Fi
The ability to balance backward compatibility with innovation and improved performance have been
the foundation of the success of Wi-Fi, and it will continue to be as wireless connectivity becomes
more pervasive in our personal, social and economic spheres, and as we expect more from it, in
terms of performance, security, coverage, and reliability.
2.1 IEEE 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6: The Next Generation in Performance
Wi-Fi performance with the current 11ac interface

is very solid. With the support of multi-user WBA Push to Enhance 802.11ax
Multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO), it
The next generation of Wi-Fi is going to be even
uses spectrum very efficiently and provides a
more attractive to carriers as it will include new
high frequency reuse in dense environments, at a operator-grade capabilities. To explore the
low per-bit cost. Yet, to keep the pace with the opportunities that these capabilities offer, the
growth in demand and to continue to meet the WBA has recently started the Enhance Wi-Fi 11ax
growing expectations of users and the working ground, tasked to develop test cases and
trials in collaboration with vendor and operator
requirements of IoT applications, the Wi-Fi
members to cover new use cases that 11ax will
community is working towards a new air enable. The WBA presented an assessment of
interface, 11ax – recently branded as Wi-Fi 6 – to 11ax capabilities and support for use cases in the
be finalized in late 2019. Trials and initial white paper “Enhanced Wi-Fi – 802.11ax
commercial deployments are already underway, Decoded. Overview, Features, Use Cases and
5G Context”. [19]
with larger pre-standard deployments expected in
2019. In South Korea, KT (see interview below)
and SK Telekom have started 11ax commercial
deployments. In the US, Charter has started
shipping 11ax routers to residential subscribers which reach up to 10 Gbps data rates, according to
the company. Many vendors – including Broadcom, Intel, Marvell, Qualcomm and Quantenna – have
announced pre-standard 11ax chipsets and equipment in 2018.
The introduction of a new air interface that uses orthogonal frequency-division multiple access
(OFDMA) interface and 1024 QAM modulation increases the spectrum efficiency, especially in dense
environments and at the cell edge (see table NBED). 11ax enables Wi-Fi to satisfy all the IMT-2020
5G use cases that do not require support for high-speed mobility and it will be able to so more quickly
than 5G because of its earlier and faster deployment (NBED refer to convergence section). Unlike 5G,
11ax can be introduced gradually without affecting legacy devices and Aps, which will continue to be
used within the same 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, allowing Wi-Fi operators and users to switch to 11ax
at the pace they are comfortable with.
11ax Benefits
Higher Capacity And Throughput

Improved Spectrum Efficiency
More Efficient Network Densification
Lower Latency
Better User Experience
Increased Indoor Coverage
Low Power, Wider Range For IoT Services
Table 1. 11ax Benefits. Source: WBA, Senza Fili
Technology Evolution with 11ax
OFDMA DL/UL. Lower latency, higher number of supported

devices per access point (AP). More capacity and more
efficient use of spectrum and network resources in dense
environments.
8x8 MU-MIMO DL/UL. Serving up to 8 simultaneous users,
doubling capacity over 4x4 MIMO, both in the downlink and in
the uplink. More uplink and real-time traffic capacity.
1024 Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). Higher per-
device peak speed, higher capacity (25% increase over 256
QAM). More efficient use of network resources.
Uplink Resource Scheduling. Better management of
network resources, lower latency. Better support and
performance in dense environments, increased battery life.
Long OFDM Symbol. Higher efficiency and capacity.
Improved outdoor performance, 4x increase in data speed at
the cell boundaries.
Basic Service Set (BSS) color. Better spatial frequency
reuse by coordination among neighboring APs. Increased
capacity in high-traffic environments with a high density of
APs.
Table 2. Technology Evolution with 11ax. Source: Intel, Qualcomm, WBA, Senza Fili
The WBA has identified key verticals that will benefit from 11ax capabilities:
 High Density Deployments. High density areas such as stadiums, airports, train stations, retail
centers, educational institutions will be able to connect to more devices and deliver a better user
experience.
 Transportation. Lower latency and increased determinism enable 11ax to support Automated
Guided Vehicles (AGV) application in industrial environments. Better outdoor coverage allows
Wi-Fi to transmit non-real-time data, e.g., firmware over the air (FOTA) updates, to vehicles.
 Enterprise. More efficient use of network resources and improved management capabilities for
both voice and data traffic.
 Retail Venues. Higher accuracy in location-based services, marketing and advertising.

 Entertainment Venues. Higher throughput, lower latency, and improved determinism enables
support of Virtual reality (VR)/Augmented reality (AR) even in dense environments, such as
stadiums, and provide immersive experiences with 8K and 360-degree video.
 Smart Cities. The new air interface provided improved hotspot coverage in dense urban
environments.
 Last Mile. Improved range and cell-edge performance improves Wi-Fi performance for last-mile
connectivity and backhaul.
 IOT. Support for lower power consumption, longer range and narrower channels further
encourages the use of Wi-Fi for IoT applications.
 Mobile Broadband. The support for a higher number of users, along with improved throughput
and latency improved the user experience for both voice and data applications.
Figure . WBA Industry Survey: Wireless Technologies Planned Deployments

Conversation: Planning the Transition to 11ax
Interview with Dongjun Lee, Director of Network Strategy, KT
KT has been one of the first and strongest We have 11ax in the second largest Starbucks
supporters of Wi-Fi among mobile operators, in Asia, so there is a lot of traffic there. Before
and it expects to be at the leading edge once the trial started, customers were complaining
more with 802.11ax. KT previewed the about the speed of their connections and
technology at the Pyeongchang Olympics Starbucks asked KT to find a better solution for
Games in early December 2017, and has an their hotspots. The feedback from users is very
ongoing trial in Seoul. We talked with Dongjun positive.
(DJ) Lee, Director of Network Strategy at KT,
Question: How is 11ax different from the
about the operator’s 11ax plans.
current Wi-Fi 11ac interface?
Question: At KT you already have a large
DJ: The service is branded as 10 GiGA Wi-Fi
hotspot footprint and capacity. What drove you
and offers a maximum speed of 4.8 Gbps – a
to work on 11ax?
major improvement over 1.7Gbps on today’s
DJ: We started to work on it a year ago and 802.11ac networks. 10 GiGA Wi-Fi uses
now we have an 11ax trial for what we call the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
10 GiGA Wi-Fi. It is the most valuable addition access (OFDMA) and multi-user multiple input,
planned in the IEEE 802.11 standard. multiple output (MU-MIMO).
Even though we have high capacity in the Question: What are your future plans for
access network, subscribers often do not enjoy 11ax?
the high speed that Wi-Fi can support,
DJ: At KT we plan to deploy 11ax across our
because of the limitations of the wireline
hotspot footprint starting in 2019 and expand it
backhaul (typically below 1 Gbps wireline) both
gradually to all our hotspots.
indoors and outdoors. At KT we are in the
process of upgrading our backhaul network to Currently, 11ax APs serve internal clients (staff
offer our 10 GiGA internet service. or IoT devices), but with adoption of mobile
devices supporting 11ax the traffic will
We expect to be done by the end of the year,
gradually shift to the 11ax interface.
and this will enable us to take full advantage of
11ax’s high throughput. The backhaul is not Legacy devices not only will continue to access
going to be a bottleneck for us, but rather the the Wi-Fi network, they will benefit from 11ax
enabler for a superior subscriber experience performance improvement even though they
when coupled with 11ax. do not support 11ax, because the new
interface makes the overall network more
Question: How is your trial going?
efficient and less prone to interference.
DJ: We did a limited commercial trial at
Question: Where are you going to deploy
Starbucks coffee shops in mid-2018, and we
11ax after Starbucks?
were impressed with the performance.
DJ: We want to extend and expand the trial to Question: What is the major driver of adoption
more Starbucks locations and other venues. of 11ax?
Later this year, the 10G GiGA Home AP,
DJ: It is probably the throughput. There is a lot
powered by 802.11ax, will also be introduced
of competition in South Korea, and 11ax is
in the residential market.
going to be a differentiating factor for us.
Question: How long do you think it will take for
Question: Will 11ax give you an opportunity to
11ax to become the dominant air interface?
monetize Wi-Fi?
DJ: We expect that mobile handsets will start
DJ: Unlimited Wi-Fi access is included in our
to support 11ax in 2019. In South Korea,
3G/LTE plans, so subscribers do not pay an
subscribers change their phone every 30 to 40
additional fee to use Wi-Fi. We do not expect
months, so probably around half the
additional subscriber fees to be a main
subscribers will have an 11ax phone by the
monetization opportunity. But 11ax, when
end of 2021.
coupled with other areas of innovation in Wi-Fi
Question: Do you think that KT subscribers solutions such as enhanced Wi-Fi positioning,
will stop using Wi-Fi when 5G is available? gives us more opportunities to use our network
assets for new services, like location-based
DJ: Subscribers will continue to use Wi-Fi, and
services, advertising, or other services aimed
we expect Wi-Fi to coexist closely with 5G, as
at the retail vertical.
it has done with LTE.
At the same time, in Korea many people have
an unlimited plan, so they do not use Wi-Fi to
save money. They use it when the
performance is better.
But Wi-Fi networks also provide connectivity to
those who cannot afford to pay for an unlimited
plan and who use Wi-Fi all the time.
Figure . Starbucks Reserve at Jongro Tower, the largest Starbucks

location in South Korea, and a KT 11ax hotspot. Source: Starbucks
2.2 Expansion to New Bands: WiGig and HaLow
Along with the new 11ax air interface, the capabilities of Wi-Fi are expanding to new bands,
increasing both the overall capacity of Wi-Fi and its ability to serve new use cases.
WiGig (11ad, 11ay) brings multi-gigabit connectivity in the 60 GHz band to provide even higher
capacity density in in home or other indoor environments where applications or devices require very
high throughput over short distances (e.g., AR/VR, 360-degree video, a home video projector). WiGig
will also be used in the highest-traffic environments, and for wireless backhaul and fixed wireless
access (e.g., Facebook’s Terragraph). In the second-generation of WiGig, 11ay allows for peak data
rates in excess of 100 Gbps – sufficient to meet the requirements of the most traffic-intensive
applications.
HaLow (11ah) takes Wi-Fi in the opposite direction, to a low frequency that is ideally suited for Long-
range, low-power, low-bandwidth connections to IoT devices. HaLow requires little spectrum, but it
can support for months or years IoT devices that are battery operated.
Together, WiGig and Wi-Fi HaLow expand the reach of Wi-Fi to new spectrum bands (60 GHz and
900 MHz) while retaining backward compatibility to Wi-Fi networks in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands. As
it is typically the case in Wi-Fi, WiGig and HaLow devices can seamlessly associate to any Wi-Fi
network, even in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, if the device supports the band.
2.3 Improved Roaming and Management of Mobile Devices
While most of the attention on Wi-Fi evolution is focused on 11ax, there are other initiatives at the
IEEE (802.11k, v, r, u, ai, aq) and Wi-Fi Alliance (Agile Multiband, Optimized Connectivity, Vantage)
to improve roaming and the management of mobile devices that will benefit carrier-based access and
the user experience.
These new capabilities support:
 Better management of spectrum resources based on real-time network conditions
 Fast roaming, allowing devices to retain their connection as they move from one AP to a nearby
one and improving support for real-time applications such as Voice-over-Wi-Fi in mobile
scenarios
 Better security and quality of service (QoS) when roaming
 Intelligent neighbor awareness to discover the best available AP using Basic Service Set (BSS)
transitions
 Network-assisted roaming for improved network discovery and selection
 Pre-association information exchange between the device and the AP to discover services
available ahead of establishing the connection
Mobile operators and service providers will have more advanced tools to manage roaming access
and have more visibility in the quality of the service their subscribers get in the visited network. Users
not only will be able to connect seamlessly, but they will connect to the best available network for their
needs.
2.4 WPA3: The Next Generation in Security
WPA3 was the major technology innovation announced in 2018 and ushers a new generation in Wi-Fi
security. WPA (2013) and WPA2 (2014) have established a solid foundation for Wi-Fi security, and
WPA2 will still remain in use for several years, as devices and infrastructure gradually transition to
WPA3. WPA3 introduces new functionality and strengthens Wi-Fi security, in response to the growth
in security threats and attacks, and the increased security requirements due to new use cases, a
wider range of devices and, even more crucially, the rapid growth of IoT, which, as discussed in
previous sections, creates new security challenges both for the devices and the networks supporting
them.
WPA3 Benefits
More Effective Security Mechanisms For Users

Out-Of-The-Box Security, Making It Easier And
More Transparent For Users To Secure Home
Networks
Easier For Users To Select Secure Passwords
New Capabilities For Mobile Operators And
Service Providers To Enforce Best-Practice
Security And Ensure Appropriate Protection
For Their Users
Higher Protection Against Eavesdropping And
Forging
Better Protection When Using Weak
Passwords
192-Bit Encryption For Enterprise Networks
More Advanced Tools For Enterprises,
Network Operators And Service Providers To
Protect Their Networks form From Attacks
Table 3. WPA3 Benefits. Source: Senza Fili
As in WPA2, there are two versions of WPA3:
 WPA3-Personal for residential and small business networks. It introduces the Simultaneous
Authentication of Equals (SAE) to improve protection when users use weak password and to
strengthen the initial key exchange. WPA3 makes it easier for users to select passwords that are
easy to remember and improves ease of use for security features.
 WPA3-Enteprise to protect enterprise, government and defense networks. It introduces 192-bit

encryption to protect networks with the tightest security requirements.
In addition, the Easy Connect certification program by the Wi-Fi Alliance simplifies the security
configurations for IoT devices with limited display capabilities and it includes the DPP protocol for
mutual authentication.
3 The Expanding Wi-Fi Ecosystems
The growth in the number of Wi-Fi shipments and Wi-Fi devices reflects a widening range of device
types and use cases across the Wi-Fi ecosystems. Initially, Wi-Fi was predominantly used for data
access from laptops. The introduction of the iPhone and other smartphone extended data access to
mobile devices, and introduced Wi-Fi calling, with voice over Wi-Fi integrated within the mobile
operator cellular network.
More recently, the wide adoption of Wi-Fi for data access has created a wide installed infrastructure
that is increasingly used for IoT and Industrial internet of things (IIoT) applications, and that has
encouraged the use of Wi-Fi as a fixed access technology for broadband access and wireless
backhaul. This has widened the Wi-Fi addressable market and its economic and social impact, but it
has also created more stringent requirements and new challenges.
As wireless connectivity becomes even more pervasive and supports a growing range of use cases
for user and IoT devices, the role of Wi-Fi will continue to expand to capture higher traffic loads and to
address new applications and services, leveraging the new capabilities of 11ax, WiGig and HaLow,
across all the Wi-Fi ecosystems.
3.1 Home Networks
By far the largest Wi-Fi ecosystem, Wi-Fi is the primary access technology in most broadband
households. According to Parks Associates, 76% of US households use Wi-Fi as their primary
broadband connection, and have on average 9.1 connected devices, which in most cases use Wi-Fi.
Adoption in home IoT devices is accelerating too. In the US, 26% of broadband homes have at least
one smart-home device, and an estimated 442 million be sold in 2020 (Parks Associates).
Wi-Fi is used for all communication needs and for entertainment, with video accounting for an
increasingly large portion of traffic. In recent years, the adoption of smart-home devices and other
connected devices has started to transform residential networks into hubs that support multiple
applications and services in the house. The traditional Wi-Fi residential network with one AP
supporting most traffic from laptops and mobile phones in the home is becoming a multi-AP mesh
network which covers every room in the house, as well as the garage and the backyard, and that
supports many smart-home devices.
The Wi-Fi network becomes even more important to those living in the home. Not only it keeps
everybody connected, it brings video and other content, entertainment, home monitoring and
management applications, security, and healthcare and other personal services, that have a
transformative impact on our experiences, and can improve our quality of life.
At the same time, however, home Wi-Fi networks become more complex and, because we rely more
on them, we need them to be even more reliable and secure than in the past. This creates an
opportunity for service providers to help residential users to manage their network and the
applications it supports. It is a monetization opportunity for broadband providers, mobile operators,
other service providers or even venue owners, who can provide routers or other equipment (e.g.,
mesh APs or smart-home devices), and manage Wi-Fi connectivity and applications inside the home.
Wi-Fi residential services are much more than a revenue opportunity. They enable the service
provider to play a role in ensuring the highest quality of experience by optimizing network utilization,
have visibility into the user experience, and proactively encourage the use of a wider set of
applications or services. In turn, this creates a deeper, more trusted relationship with the subscriber
that can increase subscriber’s satisfaction and reduce churn. In addition, visibility into the subscriber
QoE enables network operators to make a better use of the available network resources (e.g., by
shifting subscribers to/from cellular depending on network conditions and subscriber requirements).
In the US, for instance, Verizon offers Wi-Fi routers and extenders for residential users to improve the
overall connectivity and support for smart services within the house. It is based on Wi-Fi connectivity,
but it is part of a wider value proposition to the subscriber that include all access channels.
Also in the US, Charter sees the Wi-Fi router offering as central to its Inside Out Strategy, for what it
calls the “connected home experience”. Today it is a Wi-Fi device, but, in the future, it will support
LTE and 5G as well. Use cases include:
 Mobility: smart phone and laptop connectivity
 Wellness Monitoring: blood pressure and pulse monitors, smart scales
 Rich Entertainment: smart speakers, smart TVs
 Energy Management: air quality monitors, smart thermostats, smart plugs
 Home Automation: smart lights, contact sensors, gateways
 Security and Access control: motion sensors, key fobs, smart cameras, locks
The success of this model will depend on the ability of the service provider to develop strong ties with
the ecosystem to make the introduction of smart-home devices and applications seamless and their
management effortless.
3.2 Enterprise and Venue Owners
Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in the enterprise and has largely replaced Ethernet as the main access technology,
making Wi-Fi networks critical to the employees’ productivity and to the support of many internal
functions, such as security, asset tracking, and automation. In venues such as hotels, stadiums,
conference venues, and airports Wi-Fi is an absolute requirement for guests and visitors, as well as
for the staff. In some enterprise environments, Wi-Fi is also used for dedicated point-to-point or point-
to-multipoint links, often used for backhaul.
With the higher capacity, lower latency, and enhanced densification capabilities, 11ax networks will
increase the value of Wi-Fi by supporting enterprise real-time applications that require video and
voice, ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), or more control over traffic management.
Many IoT an IIoT applications (e.g., automation, remote monitoring, health care) and edge-based
private network services (e.g., VR/AR, tactile internet, immersive experience services) fall in these
categories.
More specifically, Wi-Fi supports a growing number of location-based services that use local content
and are directed to occupants, employees or visitors of a venue, e.g., a stadium, a retail mall or
another public venue. Here too, VR/AR, tactile internet, immersive experience services will support
applications for entertainment, marketing, advertising, social networking, and city services. Not only
these applications create a richer experience to guests, visitors and audiences, but they can also
provide new revenues from third parties who want to gain access to them – such a venue tenants,
advertisers, and content and application providers.
Transportation is an area of great potential for Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi has been available on trains, buses and
planes for a long time, where it often provides better connectivity that cellular. White in most cases
users expect Wi-Fi to be free on ground transportation, they accept to pay for internet access on
planes.
3.3 Carriers and Service Providers
Mobile and cable operators as well as other service providers use Wi-Fi to provide data and voice
access to their subscribers and guests. In areas with high traffic density, Wi-Fi can be used as an
offload technology to lighten the pressure (or the congestion) in the macro cellular network. Many
operators have built and operate their hotspot infrastructure, or they connect through hotspots
managed by neutral hosts or enterprises/venue owners.
Wi-Fi offload – especially when using residential and enterprise networks not owned by the service
provider – will continue to provide huge cost savings to mobile operators. Offloaded traffic removes
pressure from their cellular networks and delays the need for capacity upgrades. Today without Wi-Fi,
mobile operators would have to embark in a very expensive network update to replace Wi-Fi’s traffic
capacity and to preserve the wireless experience of their subscribers.
3.4 IoT and IIoT
Wi-Fi has been used for IoT for a long time, but in the last few years it has started to expand to new
use cases and devices, and it is the ecosystem that is poised for the most aggressive growth, as
more and more things in our environment are connected, or monitored by connected sensors and
other devices.
Cisco VNI expects that by 2021, IoT devices will account for 51% of connected devices, and 5% of
global internet Protocol (IP) traffic. The number of IoT connections will grow from 6 billion in 2016 to
14 million in 2021, with a 19% CAGR.
3.5 Connected Cities
Cities and other public entities use Wi-Fi to provide hotspot and broadband access to local residents
and visitors, provide broadband access in digital divide environments, support services for their
employees and city-wide applications (e.g., parking, security, and emergency response).
3.6 Connecting the Unconnected
Across the world, 46% (ITU NBED) of the people don’t have a broadband connection. Many are in
rural areas where wireline connectivity may not be available or too expensive, broadband availability
may be limited or not affordable in emerging countries, or in disadvantaged urban and suburban
areas in developed countries. In these environments, Wi-Fi can provide broadband access through
simple, easy to install and cost-effective solutions and reach out for those who cannot afford a
market-price connection.
4 Wi-Fi Roaming: A Better User Experience and Revenue Opportunity with

NGH and Passpoint
Building Blocks of Wi-Fi Roaming
Passpoint
Launched in 2012, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint is the
certification program developed and managed by the Wi-Fi
Alliance for devices and Aps that ensures that devices can
connect seamlessly and securely to public hotspots. For
Passpoint to work, both the device and the hotspot have to be
certified, and a roaming agreement from the home service
provider and the visited Wi-Fi provider has to be in place.
Hotspot 2.0
Hotspot 2.0, the Wi-Fi Alliance specification that defines the
technology used by Passpoint for network discovery and
selection, seamless network access with EAP-based SIM and
non-SIM user credentials.
Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)
WBA’s specifications and guidelines for Wi-Fi providers and
service operators that leverage Hotspot 2.0 and that make the
Wi-Fi user experience in hotspots as easy, seamless and
Figure
secure5.asWBAthe Industry Survey: Drivers
cellular experience. to Wi-Fi
As part of theDeployments
NGH program,
the WBA manages the Carrier Wireless Services Certification
(CWSC) to ensure a consistent end-to-end service operation
and user experience across the Wi-Fi roaming ecosystem.
Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRIX)
WRIX is a set of specifications developed by the WBA that
facilitate the commercial roaming between operators, with an
optional intermediary WRIX hub and clearing house. It includes
WRIX Interconnect (WRIX-i), WRIX Location (WRIX-l), WRIX
Data Clearing (WRIX-d) and WRIX Financial Settlement
(WRIX-f) to enable roaming parties to reliably exchange
information to facilitate roaming functionality, but also to be able
to support new services and applications (e.g., location-based
services or marketing initiatives).
Interoperability Compliancy Program (ICP)
This WBA program provides 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.
ICP defines the requirements for roaming and settlement from
basic connectivity to more advanced models to facilitate the
implementation and deployment of Wi-Fi roaming. Categories
include interconnect requirements, authentication methods,
bandwidth requirements, network discovery and selection
features, security, as well as NHG and WRIX parameters.
One of the main reasons of the long-lasting and still growing success of Wi-Fi is its ability to spread
and serve multiple ecosystems, as we discussed in the previous session. This strength, however,
creates a challenge for mobile users and devices: unlike cellular, Wi-Fi is deployed in a distributed
fashion, with a massive number of stand-alone, mostly small networks, with different architectures,
features and performance, which creates a very vibrant and dynamic environment, but also a potential
fragmentation and security risks.
This is why the Wi-Fi roaming that NGH and Passpoint enable is crucial to the Wi-Fi experience of
mobile users: it gives them access to a rich and diverse environment of Wi-Fi networks, by connecting
seamlessly and securely to vetted networks only that users can trust and that meet their performance
expectations. The mobile device detects a Passpoint network and it automatically connects to it using
EAP-based SIM and non-SIM user credentials, without the need of the user to take any action, or
even to know the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. For users, this is especially valuable when
traveling abroad, or in public locations where untrusted networks are more common.
Table 4. Building Blocks of Wi-Fi Roaming
Figure 6: WBA Industry Survey: NGH Passpoint Adoption

Wi-Fi roaming is much more than a revenue-generating tool and has an important role across many of
the Wi-Fi ecosystems as we will see in the rest of the report. But for carriers and service providers a
seamless roaming is a top priority, because they want to replicate with Wi-Fi the same seamless
experience subscribers have within their network, where they mostly do not need to roam, because
operators typically have a national footprint.
Wi-Fi Ecosystems
2010
 Cisco forms NGH SIG and authors initial Hotspot 2.0 specification. This specification later
becomes part of the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Hotspot 2.0 certification program and branded as
Passpoint.
 Cisco works with Samsung to launch the first NGH-enabled handset.

2011
 WBA teams up with Wi-Fi Alliance to harmonize NGH specifications.
 WBA member companies launch NGH trials.
 WBA and GSMA work on joint initiative to develop technical and commercial frameworks for
Wi-Fi roaming.
2012
 Major global telecom operators successfully complete NGH trials.
 Accuris enables its first mobile operator to deliver NGH services to its subscribers.
 Mobily launches the first next-gen Wi-Fi network in the Middle East and introduces SIM
authentication for its customers.
2013
 US pioneers massive NGH commercial rollout as it is deployed at Chicago O’Hare

International Airport by WBA member company Boingo Wireless.
2014
 Boingo expands NGH footprint and launches technology at 21 US airports. Company grows
NGH to be available at more than 150,000 hotspot locations around the world.
 Global Reach Technology and Ruckus Wireless work with the cities of San Francisco and
San Jose to launch the first large-scale municipal NGH Hotspot 2.0 service.
2015
 Cisco, WBA and GSMA deploy NGH at Mobile World Congress for subscribers of over 30
networks, including AT&T, Boingo, BT, China Mobile, Fon, KT, Orange, Portugal Telecom,
SK Telecom, Telstra and TELUS, together with Cisco, BSG Wireless, Accuris.
 WBA launches the Connected City Advisory Board.

2016
 WBA launches City Wi-Fi Roaming project to accelerate affordable wireless connectivity
around the world.
 NGH returns to Mobile World Congress, deployed by WBA members companies.
 Since 2016, the Global Reach NGH Hotspot 2.0 service has been used to connect LinkNYC
users, and to manage and analyze the municipal service.
2017
 WBA calls for standardization of Quality of Service for Carrier Wi-Fi.
 Cisco, Boing, GSMA, WBA launch record-setting NGH deployment at the inaugural Mobile
World Congress Americas event with US carriers leading the way. More than 60% of
attendees’ Wi-Fi connections are automatically authenticated through NGH. AT&T, Sprint
and T-Mobile subscribers are among the customers that connect via NGH.
 Accuris’ NGH Platform handles > 1B NGH authentications for a North American mobile
operator.
 WBA standardizing provisioning on NGH networks helps to improve customer experience

and foster further adoption.
 Mobily’s next-gen Wi-Fi network in the Middle East reaches 10,000 AP and carries more
than 20 TB per day.
2018
 WBA brings NGH deployment to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Fira Barcelona,
Barcelona-EI Prat Airport and hotspots throughout the city benefit from seamless Wi-Fi
connectivity via NGH. WBA calls for global adoption to realize 5G-like use cases, smart cities
and beyond.
Source: Wireless Broadband Alliance NBEDA Add caption
Passpoint allows carriers and service providers to achieve a consistent quality of experience across
cellular and Wi-Fi and gives the tools retain control over the quality of the connection over Wi-Fi
networks that they do not operate. Operators not only can choose the Wi-Fi networks that meet their
requirements and should be open to their subscribers, but they can also use policy to decide when
their subscribers should use cellular or Wi-Fi. For instance, operators may choose a cellular-first
strategy (i.e., use Wi-Fi only when cellular connectivity is poor, or networks are congested), or a
Wi-Fi-first strategy (i.e., prefer Wi-Fi networks when available and when performance is good).
Increasingly, operators are exploring ways to implement more sophisticated policy mechanisms,
based, for instance, on application, traffic type, device, subscriber plan, network conditions. Wi-Fi
roaming provides the framework and the control over traffic management that operators need to
introduce policy and other functionality for Wi-Fi access. In addition to leveraging Wi-Fi to improve the
subscriber experience, Wi-Fi roaming increases the efficiency in the use of network resources, and
thus can lead to cost savings.
For the Wi-Fi operators too, revenues from visitors are no longer the primary motivation to offer Wi-Fi
roaming. While there are some environments where paid Wi-Fi access is very successful – e.g., for
in-flight connectivity – in many venues Wi-Fi access has become free to visitors because Wi-Fi
operators or the venues where they operate have found out that there are more effective ways to
extract revenues from their networks. Because Wi-Fi connectivity is so important to visitors and
guests, venues such as stadiums, airports, hotels, and retail establishments know that Wi-Fi
connectivity is a service they have to offer to retain their customers or visitors. Without Wi-Fi, hotels
would lose many of their guests. Airports without free Wi-Fi access have become a rarity.
Even if access is free, Wi-Fi roaming improves the user experience at these locations, increases the
attach rate and the traffic per user (see the interview below), and, in turn, improves the overall
experience at the venue, and keeps visitors and guests coming back. In addition, roaming facilitates
the rollout of location-based, marketing or IoT services, and advertising, because the Wi-Fi operator
and the venue owner and tenants may have access to demographic and other information on the
visitors and guests – of course in an anonymized form to protect the privacy of the users. The WBA
white paper “Wi-Fi: Value-Add and Advertising. The Evolution of Wi-Fi Advertising and
Location Service” [24] gives an in-depth assessment of this opportunity and presents use cases of
how venues can benefit from their Wi-Fi networks.
Figure 7. WBA Industry Survey: Meeting Customer Expectations in In-Home Wi-Fi Services
Figure 8. WBA Industry Survey: In-Home Wi-Fi Services
Figure 9. WBA Industry Survey: Roaming in City Wi-Fi Networks

Conversation: Passpoint’s Prime Time
Interview with Melody Eclavea, Director of Interconnection Agreements at AT&T
Passpoint was introduced back in 2012, but India, and Europe. Slowly but surely, we have
last year was a turning point for Passpoint, started to develop a robust footprint of
when AT&T and other operators switched from Passpoint roaming carriers.
WISPr to Passpoint. I talked with Melody
Question: What do users see that is new
Eclavea, Director of Interconnection
when they first use Passpoint?
Agreements at AT&T, about the move to
Passpoint at AT&T. Melody: It’s what they don’t see that is new,
because Passpoint is seamless. The profile
Question: Melody, could you tell us what
resides in their device. You can’t touch it, see
happened with Passpoint over the last year at
it, feel it, because it’s part of the carrier
AT&T?
settings, as opposed to an app, which you
Melody: Passpoint became relevant for AT&T have to download and install.
in a way that it had not been previously. And,
The connection is seamless and is set up in
because AT&T manages over 35,000 Wi-Fi
the background. The costumer does not see
hotspots in the US, this had a wide impact on
anything, but the connection of the device to
the industry.
the network is secure. With SIM-based
In 2017, we started upgrading our Wi-Fi authentication, Wi-Fi and cellular roaming look
hotspots to support Passpoint, and including a similar.
Passpoint profile in our AT&T iPhone operating
Question: Are your international roaming
system (iOS) and Android devices. We can
carriers moving to Passpoint too?
leverage that profile that’s now resident in most
of our devices to connect to our Passpoint Melody: The number of international Wi-Fi
network and to roaming third-party networks as providers supporting Passpoint has grown over
well. the last year. AT&T’s decision to go with
Passpoint only going forward, sent a signal
By 2017, we had a robust WISPr roaming
that we and other carriers are serious about
footprint. We had a connection manager app,
Passpoint being the future of Wi-Fi roaming.
Global Wi-Fi, that facilitated onboarding or
authenticating our customers to WISPr Question: What triggered your decision to
networks. WISPr was not as seamless as we move to Passpoint?
wanted it to be. It required some manual Melody: It was the fact that the profile is
intervention. The customer had to use the app included in the carrier setting of most of our
or the phone settings to select the network. devices, and we didn’t have to go through the
We retired the Global Wi-Fi app in April 2017 onboarding process. Anytime you have to
and shifted all our focus to Passpoint. At the onboard something to a customer’s device it’s
same time, the number of available Passpoint going to decrease adoption. We generally are
networks has grown, both domestically and seeing a three- to four-fold increase in the
internationally. We have seen new Passpoint number of users and usage with Passpoint in
networks in Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, venues where we used to have WISPr.
Question: How is the billing and settlement
working in Passpoint?
Melody: Exchanging billing and settlement
records with our roaming carriers is very
important to us. One thing that makes it easier
for us and our roaming carriers is to support
the work standards defined by the WBA for
billing and settlement. The WBA is really doing
a great work to try to standardize what the
radius formats and what fields should be
populated. Adherence to WBA’s WRIX – the
Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange –
guidelines goes a long way to speeding up
roaming implementation.
Question: What are you working on to expand
Wi-Fi roaming?
Melody: We would like to explore policy to
decide when to steer customers to Wi-Fi. Let’s
say you’re at an airport, attached to the cellular
network as you are walking into the airport. If
you have a good cellular connection and that
radio that you’re connected to has plenty of
capacity, you are having a good experience
and we don’t need to switch you to Passpoint.
But if it is peak time or the cellular radio is at
80% utilization or above, then your experience
would be better with Passpoint. We would like
to able to take a look at the conditions on the
macro network before we decide whether to
connect the customer to Passpoint or not.
4.1 Passpoint and NGH at Mobile World Congress 2018: Case study of Wi-Fi in a
hyper-dense environment
Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) is a challenging environment for connectivity for all
technologies, because of the high density of users and exhibitors with demanding needs. In 2018,
MWC brought to Barcelona (1.6 million people) 110,000 visitors, most of whom connected to the
Wi-Fi network at the Fira convention center or throughout the city [10]. Cisco built the Wi-Fi network
eight years ago and it upgrades and expands it every year before the event.
At the Mobile World Congress Americas (MWCA) 2017 in San Francisco, the Wi-Fi network provided
access to over 21,000 attendees and exhibitors [3]. Nearly 22,000 devices connected to the Wi-Fi
network, and 65% connected to the network using Passpoint. Cisco added 360 Aps to the existing Wi-
Fi network. The network carried 7.5 TB of traffic, with 500 mbps peak, average traffic per client 227
MB, and average session time per user 48 minutes.
Wi-Fi at Barcelona’s MWC 2018
110,000 attendees
86,000 unique clients
20% connections through Passpoint/NGH
2260 Aps
Coverage: Fira Convention Center, El-Prat Airport, subway
stations
Fira coverage: 2400 m2, 8 halls, 45 restaurants, 2 WLAN
controllers, 1834 Aps
Infrastructure: Cisco
Access providers (GRX): Accuris, Boingo, BSG, iPass
US operators with preloaded Passpoint profiles: AT&T, Sprint,
T-Mobile
Passpoint connectivity with Shaw, TELUS, Orange, Mobily,
Softbank, Telecom26
Total traffic: 37.8 TB
Average speed: 20-25 Mbps
Peak speed: 8.9 Gbps
Peak users: 29,000
Table 5. Wi-Fi at Barcelona's MWC 2018. Source: Cisco
Figure 1.NBED. Source: NBED
4.2 Expanding Passpoint to Enterprise Roaming Relationships
At MWC, Passpoint was also used to authenticate enterprise users. Passpoint was primarily
developed to let mobile operators provide seamless connectivity to their subscribers. However,
Passpoint can also be used to authenticate users with enterprise credentials. When a device tries to
connect to a network that supports Passpoint, the enterprise credential for that device can be used to
authenticate the device. At MWC, Cisco and iPass extended Passpoint to include enterprise security
credentials, with iPass acting as a federated source of credentials from client companies.
An employee at a company with iPass subscriptions could use those credentials to connect to the
network seamlessly and securely in Barcelona. The device senses the network and use 802.11u to
exchange roam information. iPass would then identify the enterprise and, if it belongs to the iPass
roaming network, it would check the validity credentials directly with the enterprise, e.g., to make sure
the user is still employed. “This is quite revolutionary. Using enterprise credentials greatly expands
the scope of roaming, as it creates business relationships that become roaming relationships,” Matt
MacPherson, Senior Director Wireless Innovation at Cisco told us. “By building a federated network of
roaming relationships, we expand the ability of users to access networks seamlessly and the ability to
decide who to admit to their networks by selecting a set of roaming relationships it accepts.”
4.3 Intermediary Hubs Create a Roaming Market Place
A main challenge in roaming is to connect the Wi-Fi provider (enterprises, venue owners, cities, or
service providers) to service providers (mobile and fixed operators, cable operators, aggregators, or
enterprises) and establish roaming agreements that enable users to connect to the local Wi-Fi
network using credentials and the billing relationship with their home service provider. This is a
challenge for mobile operators too, but there are fewer mobile operators, and roaming agreements
and intermediaries have been around for a long time. Establishing direct roaming agreements
between Wi-Fi providers and service providers work only in special cases, typically where they both
have a strong presence (e.g., McDonald’s and AT&T in the US).
But it is not feasible for a coffee shop or even a small retail center to establish technical
interconnections and roaming agreements with all the mobile operators in a country, and even more
difficult to do so with operators in other countries. And similarly, operators cannot reach out to all the
Wi-Fi operators to roam with them.
The Road Ahead
The scope of NGH and Passpoint has already

expanded beyond the initial goal to make Wi-Fi
roaming seamless for users and profitable for
carriers and Wi-Fi operators. It is now a
framework that enables a more efficient use of
Figure 12. NBED. Source: NBED network resources, a better experience for users,
and the deployment of new services.
There is further room for expansion of the scope
of NGH and Passpoint and the WBA is committed
to further work in this direction both internally with
its members, and externally with other
organizations, such as the Wi-Fi Alliance, 3GPP
and IEEE.
The WBA is actively working on the extension of
Passpoint in IoT applications, and has already
published a paper, “IoT Interoperability.
Dynamic roaming”, [21] outlining the role of Wi-
Fi roaming for IoT applications. Further work is
being done to facilitate the adoption of Passpoint
in IoT applications, including IIoT ones.
With the increased convergence, there is an
emerging demand for a roaming framework that
works across access technologies. The WBA is
working to ensure NGH and Passpoint can
interconnect with roaming for other wireless
technologies.
Further work is underway to create a centralized
authentication source to expand the use of
certificate-based credentials, and, thus, enabling
enterprise users to benefit from Passpoint when
they roam onto Wi-Fi networks.
Roaming hubs or clearing houses are intermediaries for Wi-Fi operators to connect with the home
service providers. They offer technical simplification, reduction of operational cost, centralization of
services and scalability.
Syniverse’s Mobile Marketplace has created an online wholesale negotiation platform that operates
within a traditional Wi-Fi hub. A single location manages both the technical and business portions of
Wi-Fi wholesaling,
Syniverse accomplished this by developing standard roaming agreements, along with a platform for
billing, marketing and contractual agreements between Wi-Fi operators and service providers, which
all members of the Mobile Marketplace can use. A foreign visitor in a resort, coffee shop or a
downtown area can seamlessly and securely connect to their home service provider network, using
their home cellular plan and their home service provider credentials.
By participating in a hub, Wi-Fi operators widen their reach and gain additional revenues if the charge
for access, improve the guest experience, and participate into marketing activities enabled by the hub.
Service providers can offer a larger hotspot footprint to their subscribers and benefit from cellular
offload. Because all participants can decide what requirements their roaming partners have to meet,
they all retain control over who can access the network, and hence on the user experience.
Today, roaming hubs mostly focus on a single access technology, but with the convergence in the
access network and the emergence of new business models, they may expand to include multiple
access technologies and to include enterprises and other entities as home service providers, thus
widening further the market opportunity for Wi-Fi operators and the connectivity options for users.
Roaming intermediaries can facilitate new service offerings through new partnerships as well, often
based on services from Wi-Fi aggregators such as Boingo Wireless, iPass or Trustive. For instance,
in the US American Express offers world-wide hotspot access to their high-end subscribers in
collaboration with Boingo Wireless. OTTs may also provide connectivity through the Wi-Fi aggregator
Figure 13. WBA Industry Survey: Monetization

to deliver specific services to their subscribers, for instance to provide good quality video streaming,
social networking applications, gaming, or other applications in environments where Wi-Fi access is
otherwise gated. Roaming arrangements through Wi-Fi aggregators can also be used for IoT
applications, in which an IOT provider or an enterprise partners with an aggregator to use the hotspot
footprint to track location or movement of assets or vehicles, to transmit data, or perform other tasks.
Figure 14. WBA Industry Survey: Development Challenges
5 The Next Frontier: IoT
5.1 The IoT Addressable Market for Wi-Fi
IoT is the biggest opportunity for the growth in the adoption of new devices for Wi-Fi, as well as other
wireless technologies. There is a simple explanation for this: there are many more things than people
that can get connected, but many more people are already connected than things. IoT is taking off
because connectivity is increasingly valuable for everybody – individual users, enterprises, public
entities – and because available and emerging technologies provide the required performance at an
affordable cost.
The increase in the number of IoT devices expected over the next few years is stunning. Cisco VNI
predicts that by 2021, Machine to machine (M2M) IoT connections will account for over half of
wireless connections [4]. Already IoT devices outnumber smartphones and by 2010 the number of
IoT devices will be twice as large as that of smartphones. We should expect the growth to continue –
and most likely accelerate – after 2021, as the cost of IoT devices decreases, and the number of cost-
effective use cases increases.
Wi-Fi is well-positioned to benefit from the explosive growth in IoT. It already accounts for a large
percentage of current IoT connections. In North America, Wi-Fi accounts for 60% of IoT connections,
and cellular for 10% in 2018 (Ericsson) [9]. By 2020, Wi-Fi will still account for 58% of connections,
and cellular for 13% (Ericsson) [9] .
The strong presence of Wi-Fi in households creates an ideal environment for IoT devices and
services that need Wi-Fi connectivity: the network infrastructure and the connectivity to other home
devices are already in place, and new IoT devices can be easily added to residential networks at a
Figure 16. WBA Industry Survey: Applications Driving Network and Traffic Growth
low marginal cost. Similarly, the availability and accessibility of Wi-Fi in the enterprise and other
venues often makes Wi-Fi the preferred technology to connect local IoT devices. As the adoption of
IoT progresses, the large installed base will reinforce Wi-Fi’s role as the technology that support IoT.
Wi-Fi’s commitment to backward compatibility will further strengthen the Wi-Fi advantage, even when
11ax will be introduced, because 11ax can work with existing devices and will not require users to get
new devices, as 5G does.
5.2 Meeting the IoT Challenges
While the growth potential of IoT is huge, so are the challenges that we have to address to create the
ecosystem, platforms and business models that will support the dazzling variety of IoT use cases.
Everything in our environment can be connected, and, in most cases, there are applications that
make this connection useful and
Current IoT Wireless Technologies
valuable, but, as a result, IoT
combines an extremely Short Range
heterogeneous set of devices,  Bluetooth (2.4 GHz)
applications, environments and  WiGig (IEEE 802.11ad; 60 GHz)
players, each with distinctive  IEEE 802.15.4 (low-rate wireless personal area
requirements along multiple networks [LR-WPANs] such as Zigbee; 868/915/2450
dimensions: MHz)
 Zwave (home automation; 800-900 MHz)
 Bandwidth: From very low
(e.g., sensors) to high (e.g.
Medium Range
video surveillance cameras)
 Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
 Range: Close to Aps (e.g.,  IEEE 802.11p (for wireless access in vehicular
residential IoT) to sparsely environments, WAVE; 5.9 GHz)
distributed (e.g., utilities  MulteFire (LTE in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
meters) Long Range
 2G, 3G, 4G, NB-IoT (multiple <5 GHz bands)
 Mobility: Stationary,
nomadic or mobile  IEEE 802.11ah (Wi-Fi HaLow; 900 MHz)
 Long Range (LoRa) (<1 GHz, different bands
 Latency: From ultra-reliable depending on country regulation)
low latency communications  SigFox (868MHz, 902MHz)
(URLLC) to latency tolerant  Ingenu (2.4 GHz)
applications (e.g., weather  Weightless (<1 GHz)
sensors)
Table 6. Current IoT Wireless Technologies Source: NBED
 Reliability: higher requirements for
medical devices or mission critical applications
 Security: higher requirements for enterprise or public safety applications
 Power and life-span requirements: Many sensors require very low power consumption and
slow replacement cycles
Addressing requirements across all these dimensions creates an unprecedented challenge in
wireless networks – today’s human users are less variable in their use of wireless connectivity.
Multiple wireless technologies are necessary to jointly meet the set of unique requirements
that these dimensions define for each IoT application.
This creates further challenges: How should IoT devices be managed across wireless
technologies? How should they be identified and protected? How should they connect to the
IoT service provider, or the enterprise that controls the IoT application? This is where IoT
roaming comes in.
5.3 IoT Roaming with NGH,
Passpoint and WRIX Which Use Cases Need IoT Roaming?
Roaming is required in all use Mobile Use Cases

cases in which an IoT device As they move, the IoT device connects to Aps in networks
operated by different operators.
connects through a local, open
Examples: Automotive, asset tracking, fleet management
network to reach a home service
Roaming Requirements: Roaming is required to connect to
provider or application provider to
multiple networks, and possibly using different access
verify the identity of the device technologies. Home service provider or application provider
and of the network (see table on typically requires information on the location of the IoT device
the right NBED). Roaming is
needed to protect the device, the Nomadic Use Cases
visited network (e.g., the local While in use, the IoT device is stationary, but it may change
Wi-Fi network), and the location, frequently or occasionally.
application provider or enterprise Examples: Many wearable IoT devices, some healthcare
that deployed the IoT devices
applications: Roaming Requirements: Roaming is required for the device to
connect to the local network every time it changes location
 IoT Device. Roaming Table 7. Which Use Cases Need IoT Roaming? Source: NBED
ensures that the IoT device
Fixed Use Cases
is connected to a secure and
The IoT device is stationary, although it may very rarely
trusted network that can change location (e.g., as a result of a move or a sale of the
support its requirements device).
Examples: Most residential IoT devices
 Local Wi-Fi network
Roaming Requirements: The device has to connect locally to
(Visited Network). Roaming
register with the home service or application provider, so that
protects the local Wi-Fi the device can be properly provisioned, monitored and
networks from malicious updated
attacks from IoT devices, by
only allowing access to Fixed Use Cases, Closed Networks
devices that can be IoT devices that are stationary and connect to a local, closed
authenticated with network that has knowledge of the IoT devices approved in
credentials accepted by its the network. In most instances, these networks do not need to
roaming partners use Wi-Fi or cellular technologies.
Examples: Smart meters connected to SigFox
 IoT Application Provider Roaming Requirements: Roaming is not required
or Enterprise (Home
Network). Roaming protects
the entity that manages the IoT application by restricting connectivity to known and trusted
devices, and thus ensures appropriate behavior of the applications
NGH, Passpoint and WRIX support Wi-Fi roaming for IoT applications as they do for Wi-Fi access for
human users. The local Wi-Fi network can use SIM and EAP credentials to authenticate and connect
the IoT devices, provide security and reliability. The IoT application provider and enterprise can
ensure the network meets the performance requirements. Passpoint with the help of WRIX takes care
of all the commercial relationships, including billing, accounting and clearing. An intermediary hub can
be used to facilitate the connection of IoT devices across Wi-Fi networks to their home IoT application
provider. A neutral host or Wi-Fi aggregator may also be part of the ecosystem, to establish and
manage roaming relationships between Wi-Fi operators (visited networks) and home service
providers.
5.4 Passpoint Enables Asset-Tracking
The partnership between Armada and iPass is an example of how Wi-Fi roaming can improve asset
tracking, by collecting the location information of goods moving through the Armada supply chain,
leveraging the iPass global network. Armada has developed battery-operated tiles that customers
include with shipments. Every time a tile gets within the range of an iPass location, it connects to the
local networks, and sends the location information to the Armada platform. With this partnership
Armada has been able to improve its supply-chain analytics and operational efficiency, and to offer
real-time asset intelligence to its customers in a cost-effective way. Passpoint enables Armada tiles to
be identified by Passpoint-enabled Wi-Fi networks and authenticated without the need of a password
or any action. For M2M connections where no human can enter credentials, this is not just a nice-to-
have feature, but it is a requirement where the IoT device is mobile and continues to encounter new
Wi-Fi networks.
5.5 Optimizing Wi-Fi Roaming for IoT
Passpoint and WRIX provide a good foundation for IoT roaming in Wi-Fi networks, but there is more
work that can be done to optimize it to meet the specific requirements of IoT devices and applications,
and to fit into the IoT ecosystem – and at the same time use the Wi-Fi infrastructure that also serves
individual users.
From a roaming perspective, most IoT devices are fundamentally different from user equipment (UE)
such as smartphones and tablets, and many applications have more narrow requirements than user
connectivity. These are some of the areas where there is scope for Wi-Fi roaming optimization to
support IoT applications in a network that is not directly managed by the IoT service provider:
 Scalability. IoT will add a massive increase in the number of devices that will have to be
managed. Unlike smartphones or laptops, many IoT devices generate little traffic, so wireless
networks need to evolve to serve a higher density of devices. In roaming, scalability entails a
streamlined and automated process to authenticate, secure and manage these devices, and that
minimizes costs and complexity.
 Device credentials. Many IoT devices do not have a screen or a keyboard – or a nearby human
to use them, so they cannot use password-based authentication. In most cases, they also do not
have a SIM card, because SIM support is too expensive and complex for IoT applications that do
not require the use of cellular networks. Yet it is crucial to verify the identity of the device and
whether it should be granted access to the local Wi-Fi network, whether it is a residential,
enterprise or carrier network. This creates a need to expand the range of types of credentials
allowed, while retaining the same level of security protection that SIM-based and certificate-
based authentication provide today for devices like smartphones or laptops. As part of the
recently launched Easy Connect certification program from the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Device
Provisioning Protocol (DPP) contributes a new protocol for mutual authentication that does not
require a password, and use public keys such as QR codes and near field communications
(NFC) tags to identify and securely authenticate devices.
 Securing remote, unprotected devices. Because IoT are typically unsupervised and
sometimes in locations that are physically accessible (e.g., installed on a wall in a building
accessible to the public, or on outdoor furniture), they are vulnerable to physical tampering and
malicious attacks from the device may threaten the network security. So even if the IoT device
itself – a sensor or a light bulb – may have a limited role in the network, its connection to the
network has to be as secure as the one for any other device. Remote monitoring, tracking and
visibility into the device are ways to make remote and unprotected devices more secure.
 Device control. IoT application providers need to have visibility into the device not just for
security reasons, but also to monitor the condition of the device (e.g., power level), notice
unusual or unexpected behavior, detect faults, remotely update, and generally manage the
device.
 Device management. An IoT device may disrupt the visited network (e.g., due to malfunction or
a security issue) and the visited network and the IoT application provider may need to jointly
manage the device as needed and identify the root cause of the issue. In this case, they both
need to have visibility into the role of the device (e.g., is it a light bulb or an expensive medical
device that keeps a patient alive?) and the impact of the disruption on the networks (e.g., is the
device taking the network down, or is it just creating more traffic than usual?).
 Local breakout, edge computing. Some IoT applications may require or benefit from edge
computing in the visited network. Other may instead need local breakout to send data directly to
the internet from the visited network, instead of sending it to the home network or the IoT
application provider.
 Billing and mediation. The financial arrangements that work for subscriber access with carriers
and service providers may not be well suited to IoT applications, and result in lost revenues for
Wi-Fi operators and inability to use the Wi-Fi footprint for IoT service providers. The roaming
framework does not set the terms of IoT roaming relationships, but it may be expanded to enable
a broader range of billing and mediation models.
 Mobility support, session continuity. IoT applications that are strictly mobile (e.g., autonomous
driving) are unlikely to use Wi-Fi as it does not provide the wide area coverage or vehicular
speed support that these applications require. But applications like the asset tracking may need
support for some level of mobility and possibly session continuity within and across visited
networks.
 Multiple access technologies. Not only the IoT ecosystem will use multiple access
technologies, but some IoT application and devices will use multiple access technologies. For
instance, an asset tracking application may use both cellular and Wi-Fi access. As a result, the
ability to coordinate access across technologies and share authentication credentials will
facilitate the adoption of some IoT applications – and thus expand the opportunity of Wi-Fi to
address the IoT market. A federated identity model such as the one supported Security Assertion
Markup Language (SAML) may
facilitate the interoperability for
roaming across access interfaces. WBA’s Initiatives on IoT
Passpoint and WRIX deployments are

based on a business model in which user The initial work of the WBA on IoT culminated in
connect mobile devices in a visited network two white papers, “internet of Things. New
Vertical Value Chains & Interoperability” [20]
using their relationship with a home service (2017) and “IoT Interoperability. Dynamic
provider, which is typically a mobile Roaming” [21] (2018).
operator, an Multiple-system operator The WBA is currently working on the identity
(MSO), or an Mobile virtual network management for IoT devices, and on the
operator (MVNO). In the IoT ecosystem, expansion of NGH and Passpoint to IoT devices.
this is not often not the case. As in the Further initiatives at the WBA focus on the
carrier and service provider case, the IoT business requirements for IoT roaming and
interoperability. The WBA is exploring roaming
device gets connected to a visited network,
models that support IoT devices with multiple
which may be operated by a local operator wireless access technologies and that have widely
or by a neutral host, and the roaming different performance and service requirements.
connection may be enabled or facilitated To this end, the WBA plans to establish a work
by a Wi-Fi aggregator (e.g., iPass or group on IoT roaming, to encourage trials and to
collaborate with other industry and standards
Boingo Wireless) and Wi-Fi roaming hub
organizations to establish interoperability across
(e.g., Accuris or Syniverse) (see figure access technologies and solutions.
below NBED). But at the other end, we are
more likely to have an Over the top (OTT)
IoT application provider or enterprise, than
a carrier or service provider. Passpoint and
WRIX are not limited to carrier and service providers as home networks entities, but their
implementation in the future is likely to evolve to facilitate the participation of new IoT players.
Figure 17. NBED. as it is mentioned in the diagram
6
7 Bridging the Digital Divide
with Wi-Fi: Smart Cities, Rural The World Wi-Fi Day and
the Connected Cities Advisory Board (CCAB)
Areas, and Developing
Countries
The World Wi-Fi Day is an initiative driven by
WBA’s CCAB to recognize and promote the role
Wi-Fi’s wide adoption has created the of Wi-Fi, including its importance in connecting the
economies of scale that ensure that most unconnected as an affordable access technology.
mobile broadband devices have Wi-Fi and While the social and economic benefits of
that Wi-Fi infrastructure equipment can be connectivity are recognized, almost half of the
easily deployed everywhere at a low cost. world population is still unconnected. Rural areas
and developing countries have the lowest
As a result, Wi-Fi has been and will percentage of connectivity, but there are many
continue to be a major driver to connect unconnected people even in urban areas in
the unconnected, in rural and urban areas, developed countries. During the latest Wi-Fi Day,
in developing and developed countries. Wi- a survey of urban connectivity showed that even
Fi brings connectivity to underserved areas in London, the most connected major global city,
7% of the citizens are unconnected. In Moscow
or population segments through hotspots that percentage is 10%, in New York is 19%. Delhi
that may be deployed by operators, public and Sao Paulo are the least connected among the
entities or communities. In city or major global cities, with 29% and 36% of
community driven deployments, Wi-Fi often unconnected people, respectively.
supports not only basic connectivity, but CCAB members include city CIOs and officials
also services for the local population (see from over 30 cities, including Barcelona, Dublin,
Liverpool, Moscow, New York, San Francisco,
interview below) and visitors.
San Jose, and Singapore. CCAB goals are to
Some governments actively encourage the encourage:
deployment of Wi-Fi infrastructure to  The development of connected city plans and
increase broadband connectivity. In India, blueprints
for instance, the Draft National Digital  The identification and dissemination of best
Communication Policy (NDCP) for 2018 practices
envisions the creation of 10 million public  The creation of public-private partnerships
Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022, both in urban and  Information and experience sharing for city
rural areas. With the late deployment of 4G managers and CIOs
networks and a low percentage of The CCAB published a report, “Connected City
Blueprint 2017/18” [13] that offers guidelines to
broadband households, users in India have
support cities and governments effort to extend
benefited from Wi-Fi hotspots to provide connectivity and offer new services within the
broadband connectivity, and operators rely Connected City and the Smart City ecosystems.
on offload to meet the explosive growth in
demand for data access.
There are also technology-driven initiatives to bring better connectivity to underserved areas.
Qualcomm and Facebook have jointly launched the Terragraph project, which uses off-the-shelf
WiGig equipment to create a multi-node wireless network for fixed wireless access (FWA) in urban
areas, for residential and business users, and venues. Terragraph technology is based on 802.11ad
and 802.11ay, and strives to reduce the capex for residential broadband connections, which
traditionally has hampered the deployment of broadband infrastructure in economically disadvantaged
urban areas. Terragraph networks will be installed on street-level assets (lampposts, rooftops,
building
Figure 18.sides), with a line-of-sight,
WBA Industry point-to-multipoint
Survey: Traffic Growth in Urban architecture
Areas with automatic rerouting and beam
steering. The companies expect trials to start in the middle of 2019 and deliver 10 Gbps link rates
using the unlicensed 60 GHz band.
Conversation: With the People, not to the People: Smart Cities Create Communities
Interview with Julie Snell, Bristol is Open
Bristol is Open is a joint venture between the opportunity to deliver services, run city-
Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol based applications, and provide connectivity in
that started in 2014 to find ways to change the underserved communities. It is hoped we can
way the city delivered services to those living develop a model that will enable consumer
or working there. They have a fiber backbone choice by giving access to its network to
wireless network which includes Wi-Fi – a operators for backhaul connectivity.
canopy mesh network across 2,400 locations –
and other wireless technologies which are Question: How did you leverage the
being used to research and develop smarter infrastructure you deployed?
ways to support the city’s emergency services,
Julie: Many smart cities trials have not scaled
traffic control, and citizen service applications.
to the full rollout phase. We decided to focus
In our conversation, Julie Snell, CEO of Bristol
on a trial that could scale and started by asking
is Open, talked about the role of Wi-Fi in
ourselves what problems the city needed to
bridging the digital and economic divide in the
solve. Not future problems, problems that exist
city.
today. We did not want to start with the
Question: What makes Bristol a good smart premise that we just wanted to “test the
city candidate? technology”, we start with the business case.
We wanted to find out what was failing in the
Julie: Bristol owns a huge amount of
ducting that historically used to
belong to a TV network that delivered
through fixed cable. This ducting
gave Bristol a head start, along with
the collaboration with the wireless
engineering team at University of
Bristol. Government funding helped
us to put fiber into the ducting which
we could use to install wireless
technologies such as Wi-Fi and LTE,
as well as 5G trials. The city owns
the end-to-end network, so we have
Figure 19. NBED. Source: Bristol is Open

current service delivery, how much these Julie: We are looking at ways to install Wi-Fi in
failures are costing the city, and how we could the more deprived areas where people can’t
use the network infrastructure to remedy this. afford to pay full subscription fees for their
connectivity. We hope to do things like, enable
Question: What are you doing differently that connectivity for children to access school
allows you to scale? portals to do their homework. Monitor the daily
movement patterns of the frail inside their
Julie: As you move into a wider rollout, you
homes with simple, low-cost sensors. We can
start picking up large amounts of data from
build a picture of the movements and habits so
devices, that we can aggregate. Once you start
that we can act in a preventative way to help
collecting data, ethics, politics and security
them stay safe and healthy. So, for instance
become central issues. Who owns that data?
when these patterns change – e.g., they are
Who’s got the right to deal with it? Who’s
moving more slowly, or they have not got out
touched that data? How secure is that data?
of bed – we can trigger notifications or alarms.
These are the elements that for so many have
prevented true scaling. We had to change our Question: How do you respond to these
mindset to address this if we wanted to impact notifications or alarms?
the lives of Bristolians in a positive manner.
Julie: Bristol has a 24-hour operation center
Question: What is the service at the top of that monitors telecare services. The alert could
your list? go to an elected neighbor or family member
that we can ask to pop in to check. We can be
Julie: Our big next step is to address the
more focused on the preventive care, for
community, social and health issues in our city.
instance, engaging people in the community to
Bristol is a fast-growing city, but there are
help those who need it, at a lower cost than
segments of the population that are not part of
health care professionals, for tasks that do not
this successful track. In the more affluent parts
require medical training. This will enable the
of the city, 88% of children go onto higher
frail and elderly to stay well at home and
education, in poorer areas this figure can be
shorten expensive hospital stays.
less than 5% and life expectancy drops by an
average of 10 years. Question: Who can help the elderly or people
with illnesses?
The elderly is an especially vulnerable
segment of the population, often living with Julie: We are creating community engagement
long-term illnesses and living in isolation and that includes people from many groups such
without the benefits connectivity can provide to as the retired, parents at home, unemployed
their wellbeing and care. There are who can support those in their community with
communities that have lost access to the social and financial impact of long-term
manufacturing jobs as these companies have illnesses, which is becoming greater as people
either closed or moved. This has resulted in live longer. The community can help with
large areas that have fallen behind in the simple tasks like changing a light bulb,
digital journey, accessing broadband via shopping, getting dressed, which are
subscription is often beyond their budget; expensive services if provided by professionals
sent by the health care system.
Question: How does Wi-Fi help in these
environments?
Question: What type of infrastructure do you
need?
Julie: We need the basic connectivity that a

Wi-Fi network can provide.
Research has shown that people who are

happy in their home are more likely to stay
healthy which means they will stay in the
home. But elderly people often feel isolated, so
often they don’t know how best to seek help
from the people in their community.
We have to change our perspective on

communications. It is not something you
download, something between the user and
the internet. It has to gone full circle and we
need to help re-create a community spirit. We
want to contribute to improving the health of
our community, make it a better place to live,
and give people the communications
technology that will enable them to do it.
Question: How do you convince people in

their 80s that has never had a broadband
connection that they need one? Or teach them
how to use it?
Julie: We have to find more intelligent ways of

connecting with this part of our community. It is
as much about sharing the benefits in a
manner that they can understand, sometimes
this means engaging with the digitally savvy
older generation to help us communicate with
those who are even older and not at all digital
savvy. The realization has to be about the
people. It has to be about the problems now
that need solving. We are no longer in the age
of waiting for smart cities. The technology’s
there. We are now working on how to put it all
together properly and use it. We are not doing
it to the people. We’re doing it with the people.
Figure 21. NBED. Source: Bristol is Open
Figure 22. WBA Industry Survey: Public Wi-Fi Challenges
8 Figure 20. WBA Wi-Fi

Expanding IndustryReach
Survey:in
Public
NewWi-Fi Services Bands
Unlicensed
Wi-Fi has consistently demonstrated that spectrum utilization in unlicensed bands is very high. In the
US, Wi-Fi accounts for 67% of mobile traffic, 55% of mobile connections time and 48% of mobile
sessions (Telecom Advisory Services), using only the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands 6 GHz and 5 GHz.
The high level of frequency reuse is driven by multiple users competing for valuable spectrum
resources, using a regulatory framework that ensures fair access to all users – residential users,
enterprises, venue owners, carriers and other service providers, cities, public agencies and wireless
internet service providers (WISPs).
The high spectrum utilization in unlicensed bands creates social benefits and economic value. In the
US the estimated economic value of unlicensed spectrum was $525 billion in 2017 and is expected to
reach $834 billion in 2020, with a 17% CAGR (Telecom Advisory Services NBED), with residential Wi-
Fi being the largest contributor.
Yet, the future forecasted value could be reduced if there is insufficient unlicensed spectrum to meet
the demand. Despite the efficiency of Wi-Fi in using spectrum resources, Wi-Fi and other
technologies need additional spectrum to continue to accommodate traffic growth. The 2.4 GHz band
is heavily used and affected by congestion in location with high-density traffic. As a larger portion of
Wi-Fi traffic moves to the 5 GHz band, congestion has started to affect the 5 GHz band as well.
The growth in the economic value of unlicensed access is contingent on the availability of new
Figure 23. Illustration of the Spectrum Shortfall per Region, by Year and
Demand level. Source: NBED
unlicensed spectrum bands that can carry the increasing traffic loads from user mobile devices and
from IoT devices. A study [164] of the Wi-Fi spectrum needs sponsored by the Wi-Fi Alliance
estimated that additional 500 MHz to 1 GHz of unlicensed spectrum are needed to satisfy Wi-Fi traffic
demand.
Regulators worldwide are exploring options to allocate spectrum to unlicensed use. Advances in
spectrum sensing, interference management and technology coexistence expand the range of
spectrum bands that can be opened to unlicensed use, to include bands where there are already
Figure 24. Economic Value of Unlicensed Spectrum in the US in Billions. Source: Telecom Advisory
Services
incumbent users. This is a major step forward since nearly new spectrum bands that are targeted for
unlicensed use are typically allocated for a specific use and/or licensed to incumbent users. Because
it is now possible to manage coexistence with incumbent spectrum users, they can retain priority
access and unlicensed access can be allowed where spectrum sits unused. The Citizens Broadband
Radio Service (CBRS) framework in the US and spectrum sharing arrangements in other countries
have established innovative regulatory frameworks that can be customized to add unlicensed access
in other bands, while protecting incumbent access.
8.1 New Spectrum Bands for IoT and Hyperdense Environments
Wi-Fi has already started the expansion to unlicensed bands beyond the current 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
bands:
 WiGig (11ad, 11ay), in the 60 GHz Band: Multi-gigabit, short-range connectivity to provide high
capacity density in the highest-traffic environments, or in home or other indoor environments
where some applications or devices require very high throughput over short distances (e.g., a
home video projector). 11ay enhances that initial WiGig standard by adding 4x4 MIMO to 11ad.
 HaLow (11ah), in the 900 MHz Band: Long-range, low-power, low-bandwidth connections to IoT
and IIoT devices. Connections may be in the kbps range, and some devices may have
challenging battery life requirements in the order of months or years.
8.2 New Unlicensed Bands in the US: 6 GHz and 5.9 GHz
In addition to the expansion into unlicensed bands already available with WiGig and HaLow,
Wi-Fi will benefit from the allocation of the 6 GHz band (5.925-7.125 GHz) to unlicensed use in
the US. The 6 GHz would add 1200 MHz of spectrum, doubling the spectrum available to Wi-
Fi. The 6 GHz band is well suited for IIoT and IoT applications because initially there will little
contention in this band and, even in the long term, there is enough spectrum to manage even
the IIoT and IoT, especially if using the traffic management and network slicing capabilities of
11ax. More generally, the additional spectrum in the 6 GHz band will increase the scalability of
use cases such as VR/AR that require low latency and high capacity.
The FCC is currently evaluating unlicensed use in the band through a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) that will explore how to protect the continued use of the band by
incumbents with interference protection. The prize is high and so the is the eagerness in the
Wi-Fi community to get the 6 GHz band allocated to unlicensed use, but an FCC decision is
not expected until the end of 2019.
In the US, the 5.9 GHz band, currently allocated as Dedicated Short-Range Communications
(DSRC) for Intelligent Transportation Services (ITS) is another band that could be allocated to
unlicensed access. While the spectrum is very sparsely used, the car industry opposes
unlicensed access in the band, and so there is limited activity on this front. It is also less
attractive than the 6 GHz band because it is limited to 75 MHz.
Figure 25. WBA Industry Survey: Spectrum and Regulatory Policy
9 The future of Wi-Fi beyond 11ax
In the evolution of Wi-Fi as an access technology, 11ax is the next major step and it will redefine
Wi-Fi performance and functionality, in a way that is comparable to the transition from 4G to 5G. But
the progression of Wi-Fi goes beyond 11ax – and beyond the IEEE work on the 802.11 standard, to
include technologies and tools from the broader wireless community and from other fields.
9.1 Edge Computing
Since its inception, Wi-Fi has been a technology with a distributed architecture. Most cellular networks
cover entire countries – or at least a good percentage of the territory – and have a highly centralized
structure to enable mobility. Wi-Fi networks are highly local: they serve users within a limited are, and,
wherever they go, users can connect to the local network. Even a Wi-Fi venue that is part of large Wi-
Fi network is architected as stand-alone network: the Wi-Fi network in an airport is independent from
a Wi-Fi network in another airport, or even from a Wi-Fi network in a stadium in the same city, even if
they are operated by the same carrier or Wi-Fi integrator.
In this perspective, edge computing has always been inherent to Wi-Fi networks and to any
application or service they support. For the enterprise, a stand-alone Wi-Fi network means control
over its performance and over the services it provides – a highly valuable benefit and driver for the
success of Wi-Fi over the years. For the residential users, local functionality has created home
networks in which devices work with each other without the need to connect to a network core. For
carriers, Wi-Fi’s distributed architecture coupled with local breakout is necessary to Wi-Fi offload.
With new use cases that require intensive processing and low latency, edge computing becomes
even more prominent and valuable in Wi-Fi networks, but also the new edge computing requirements
are easy to accommodate because of Wi-Fi’s distributed architecture.
New Wi-Fi use cases that require ultra-reliable low latency (URLL), or a combination of low latency
and high capacity typically need edge computing. By moving processing and content closer to the
edge, applications are not affected by the unavoidable latency that backhaul, transport and internet
access introduce. Applications such as VR and AR, for instance, greatly benefit from edge computing,
as often the content is local or stored locally, and in many instances sending the content back to the
core is unnecessary and wasteful of network resources.
Other applications that are tied to the location – location-based services, some advertising,
enterprise- and venue-specific applications – also benefit from edge computing, as they give more
control and flexibility to the enterprise and venue, and they can provide better security and
performance.
Figure 26. WBA Industry Survey: Multi-access Edge Computing
9.2 Network Slicing
Network slicing allows operators to create separate traffic flows that can be managed independently
to meet their specific requirements. This enables operators to optimize the utilization of network
resources and to more efficiently and effectively support multiple applications and services. For
instance, they can ensure that mission-critical traffic is assigned to a network slice with the highest
priority, while a low-bandwidth latency-tolerant IoT application may be assigned to a slice with a lower
priority. Network slices can be defined by multiple parameters, including priority, latency, throughput,
policy, security, mobility, reliability, charging, and user.
As discussed in a paper by the WBA, Wi-Fi can support some slicing functionality in the access
network already by using network SSID to create the Wi-Fi equivalent of a slice. Wi-Fi manages the
traffic from different service set IDs (SSID) separately using virtual local access networks (VLAN), so
it is possible to use VLANs and SSIDs to deploy network slicing functionality in the access network. In
a residential environment, Basic service set IDs (BSSID) can be used in residential networks to create
the equivalent of network slices.
When using SSIDs or BSSIDs to define network slices, the device can selectively associate to one
slice, or move from one to another slice. The network can isolate traffic between different slices,
define resources for each slice, and prioritize transmission for different slices. Differently from network
slicing in cellular networks, a device connected to a Wi-Fi network can only be connected to one
SSID/BSSID – i.e., to one slice.
When end-to-end network slicing is implemented in cellular networks, if Wi-Fi network is integrated
within a mobile network, it will be possible to extend the network slicing in the core of the cellular
network to the Wi-Fi network in the Radio access network (RAN).
The introduction of 11ax will introduce a more advanced management of spectrum resources which
will make the partitioning of resources among users and slices easier and more effective,
9.3 Blockchain
Blockchain can be used to share Wi-Fi access, to give visitors Wi-Fi access in public locations and to
create a low-cost Wi-Fi infrastructure that
relies on residential users to allow guest
users on their network. World Wi-Fi, Source
and Ammbr are among Wi-Fi blockchain
operators, funded by an initial coin offering
(ICO). The host – typically a residential
broadband user with a Wi-Fi AP – agree to
give access to their network to guests, while
still being able to use their network as they
need and keeping their personal network
separated from the one open to guests. The
blockchain operator creates a decentralized
broadband market in which the tokens it
issues are used to purchase connectivity or
gain revenues for to provide connectivity, on
a pay-as-you-go basis (Source and Ammbr).
Alternatively, guests can get access free and Figure 27. NBED. Source: NBED
advertisers use tokens to compensate the
Wi-Fi hosts (World Wi-Fi). All transactions are based on micropayments which typically use
cryptocurrencies.
While this is an interesting exploratory approach to test a new approach in providing broadband
access, it is unlikely to revolutionize public access, and many features are similar to Wi-Fi sharing
models such as the one use by Fon. However, a pay-as-you service using micropayments may be
effective in emerging countries or in underserved areas, where it can provide access to the
unconnected and become a revenue source for the host. Smart cities may find this model useful to
provide access and services, without having to invest in the network infrastructure. The Wi-Fi
blockchain model may also be used to include other technologies – e.g., cellular – and carriers,
MVNOs or other service providers may explore some of the blockchain functionality to offer service on
their networks.
9.4 Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Analytics
Managing Wi-Fi networks and optimizing their performance take time, and require expert staff. And as
networks become more advanced in functionality and performance, their complexity increases and
the burden of network management and optimization increases. At the same time, many enterprises
have grown to be so reliant on Wi-Fi that any network disruption causes big financial losses in
productivity or due to the inability to perform tasks. Lack of Wi-Fi connectivity in an airport is likely to
have a major impact on flight scheduling. In a delivery company such a FedEx or UPS, Wi-Fi network
crashes may severely slow down or block parcel delivery or transport.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help Wi-Fi operators to identify complex networks
problems – and eventually predict them before they occur –, isolate the root cause, find a solution
and, eventually, resolve the problem. Analytics are needed to collect the network data, select the
relevant data, and crunch through it, using artificial intelligence, machine learning and other tools to
optimize network performance. To benefit from this learning process and contain its costs, automation
is needed manage complexity. A closed-loop automation approach creates a continuous learning
process that delivers an incremental optimization of the network.
Multiple solutions are available in the market and use different approaches:
 Aruba has launched NetInsight which uses AI to troubleshoot Wi-Fi networks, using a SaaS
model. Mist has developed a platform that combines AI, neural networks, automation to make
Wi-Fi networks more predictable and reliable, more transparent, and easier to manage and
deploy.
 KodaCloud combines AI, analytics and automation for RF optimization, cell-size optimization,
channel planning, and AP selection. Network information is collected at the edge, in the AP, and
analyzed in the cloud.
 Mojo Cognitive Wi-Fi gives Wi-Fi operators and venue owners not only a way to optimize network
performance and troubleshoot performance issues, but it also uses analytics to monitor device
location and behavior in real time, collected on an anonymous basis. This information can be
used for marketing, advertising, security, and network management.
Figure 28. WBA Industry Survey: Cloud, Big Data, AI, Digital Identify, Blockchain
10 Wireless Convergence: Wi-Fi and 5G Better Together
Wi-Fi and cellular technologies were created to meet fundamentally different communication needs.
Wi-Fi was designed for data connectivity, to serve fixed users at home or in the enterprise, in
distributed, stand-alone networks that use unlicensed spectrum open to all. Cellular was initially a
voice technology, to be deployed in networks that covered large national footprints, using licensed
spectrum, and owned and managed by operators. The convergence between the two technologies
started a long time ago, with cellular networks moving towards data, and Wi-Fi networks towards
voice. With small cells, cellular moved closer to the Wi-Fi AP deployment models. With Passpoint,
Wi-Fi moved closer to the cellular roaming model. The list goes on as the two main wireless
technologies learned from each other to meet the expectations and demands of users, and to improve
performance and efficiency.
10.1 Technology Differentiation
Yet both Wi-Fi and cellular have preserved a clear differentiation that strengthened the role and value
that each brought to wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi’s main strength lies in its ability to provide in-building
stationary connectivity, across stand-alone local networks owned by home and venue owners and
public hotspots. Because of the massive installed base of Wi-Fi devices and equipment, Wi-Fi
achieves a high frequency reuse at a low per-bit cost.
Cellular can cost-effectively provide wide-area coverage and mobile access, almost exclusively
through public networks. While the infrastructure equipment is more expensive than Wi-Fi, the per-
km2 cost is lower because cellular uses bands that allow longer range. The exclusive use of spectrum
in licensed bands makes cellular more spectrally efficient.
10.2 Closing the Gap
With the next generation of Wi-Fi and 5G the gap between the technologies is narrowing, as they get
even closer to each other. They are both expanding to new, higher-frequency bands: Wi-Fi to the 60
GHz band, 5G with Millimeter wave (mmW). 5G follows the path initiated with Licensed-assisted
access (LAA) in 4G to include unlicensed spectrum, operating both anchored to a licensed band and
in stand-alone unlicensed networks, alongside Wi-Fi. MU-MIMO is essential to both technologies.
Both Wi-Fi and 5G target low-latency use cases such as VR/AR and industrial automation, and
private networks that benefit from distributed architectures, edge computing and network slicing.
Mobile operators will continue to use Wi-Fi offload, but we may also start seeing 5G offload, where
Wi-Fi traffic is moved to less crowded 5G networks. Real-time traffic management, Artificial
intelligence (AI), analytics and automation promise to bring a better user experience and more
efficient use of network resource to both technologies.
10.3 11ax and 5G
The evolution to 11ax and 5G has followed parallel but independent paths because they are united in
addressing increasing traffic volumes, demanding use cases, and IoT adoption. It is not surprising
that they both meet most of the IMT-2020 requirements for the next generation of mobile networks.
The main exception is that 11ax will not support vehicular mobility – not surprising since Wi-Fi is not a
mobile technology, even though it supports low-speed mobility. At the same time, 5G alone would be
too expensive and insufficient to carry all the traffic, especially in high-density areas and in indoor
locations.
Both 11ax and 5G can provide an impressive performance in a controlled environment in a test or in a
trial (see this WBA white paper [17] for further information). But to meet the IMT-2020 requirements
in real-life, high-traffic indoor and outdoor environments, we need both technologies to coexist side-
by-side to deliver the performance we need in scale and cost. As deployments of 11ax and 5G will
expand, the relative strengths and role of the two technologies will remain largely unchanged (NBED
WBA ITU figure). In most markets, 11ax will arrive ahead of 5G (see figure NBED), with 4 times as
many 11ax connection as 5G by 2021 (GSMA). Wi-Fi will also benefit from a smoother transition to
11ax, because with backward compatibility Wi-Fi operators can install 11ax while continuing to
support legacy devices.
Figure 2. Uptake of 5G and 11ax based Based on the number Number of
connectionsConnections. (Source: ABI (11ax) [11], GSMA (5G) [12]
Figure 3. Enhanced 802.11 capabilities Capabilities compared Compared with

IMT-Advanced and IMT-2020. Source: Wireless Broadband Alliance
10.4 Pushing the Envelope on Convergence
Wireless convergence is not just about Wi-Fi and cellular – and their latest versions, 11ax and 5G.
Although they are the technologies that will serve most users and carry most of the traffic, other
wireless technologies will play a role in ensuring pervasive connectivity of people and things, across
different environments, meeting an increasing variety of connectivity needs.
Figure 32. WBA Industry Survey: Licensed and Unlicensed Convergence and Coexistence
Figure 31. WBA Industry Survey: Network Transformation and 5G

Many IoT applications have very specific requirements in terms of range, capacity, power, security,
cost and reliability that neither Wi-Fi or 5G are well suite to meet. Technologies like Bluetooth and
Zigbee address short range IoT connectivity requirements, for instance in the home, while Narrow-
band IoT (NB-IoT), LoRa and SigFox serve the market for low power, low bandwidth and long range
IoT, for instance utility meters or remote sensors.
Technologies like MulteFire, LAA and CBRS/OnGo use 4G cellular technologies today, but they will
eventually migrate to 5G, use new approaches to spectrum use and network deployments:
 MulteFire uses LTE in unlicensed bands in private networks that cover a specific location, and do
not require control-plane anchoring support from a licensed band, enabling enterprise and venue
owners to use LTE, sharing the unlicensed spectrum with Wi-Fi.
 LAA uses LTE in the 5 GHz unlicensed band and require anchoring in a licensed band, thus
limiting the use of LAA to mobile operators or service providers with an LTE core.
 CBRS/OnGo operate in the 3.5 GHz band in the US, using a new three-tiered spectrum
framework, in which incumbents retain priority access, licensed users with Priority Access
Licenses (PALs) can use the spectrum where and when incumbents do not use it, and
unlicensed users share the spectrum that incumbers and PAL holders do not claim.
These technologies are currently based on 3GPP and LTE, but in due time they will evolve or migrate
to 5G. They are valuable complements to Wi-Fi and licensed cellular, as they meet specific
application, business model and ownership requirements, and contribute to a more efficient utilization
of the spectrum.
Finally, convergence goes beyond wireless, to include wireline connectivity. In access, wireline
connectivity is in steady decline, as wireless connectivity has become more widely available and less
expensive, and meets the capacity and latency requirements of most applications. Yet, wireline
connectivity explans its role in backhaul, fronhaul and transport, getting closer to users and connected
devices, as fiber is increasingly needed to reach the edge infrastructure, and as virtualized RAN
architectures are deployed. The fixed and wireless convergence will progress even further with the
support in the 5G core for both wireless and wireline technologies.
Wireless convergence will make it possible for wireless and wireline technologies to get closely
integrated to better serve our connectivity needs and to use network resources more efficiently.
Figure 33. WBA Industry Survey: Wireless Technologies Planned Deployments
10.5 Integrating Wi-Fi and Cellular
Wireless convergence created an optimal environment for the integration across access technologies,
and in particular between Wi-Fi and cellular – with 11ax and 5G accelerating this process.
3GPP is leading the way in creating the standards to integrate Wi-Fi within cellular networks, both to
enable authentication and roaming of devices into cellular networks and to use 5G as a traffic
management platform that works across access technologies including Wi-Fi. The integration of Wi-Fi
and cellular enables operators and service providers to optimize traffic across access networks,
directing traffic to the interface that supports the best user experience or most efficient use of network
resources based on the real-time network conditions, traffic or application type, or operator policy.
Integration of Wi Fi in cellular networks can be implemented at multiple levels – RAN, core and OS –
and, depending on the type of integration desired, network operators can choose the mix of
integration tools of their choice. They include:
 LWA and LWIP. They integrate Wi-Fi in the RAN in a cellular network, with a cellular band
managing the control plane and the Wi-Fi used for data traffic in the user plane.
 Dual connectivity. Mobile devices can establish an active connection to multiple air interfaces,
thus enabling a mobile device to be simultaneously connected to a Wi-Fi AP and a New radio
(NR) (or LTE) cell, thus improving resource utilization over both Wi-Fi and 5G cellular network,
and user experience.
 S2a- and S2b-based Mobility over GTP (SaMOG) and Enhanced SaMOG. SaMOG defines
the interworking between Wi-Fi in the RAN and the cellular core. Trusted Wi-Fi networks can use
a WLAN Access Gateway to send traffic directly to the internet or over to a 3GPP mobile core.
 Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF). With ANDSF, mobile devices
decide whether to connect to the cellular network or to Wi-Fi, when both are available. While
SaMOG is network driven, ANDSF is device driven. ANDSF facilitates the discovery of Wi-Fi
networks and enables operators to apply policy rules to the device to manage the Wi-Fi
connection.
 Multipath TCP. internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is working on multipath Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) to enable mobile devices to connect to more than one air interface at the
same time. Multipath TCP allows for TCP connections to use multiple radio access technologies
to improve resource utilization, add redundancy and improve the user experience. With multipath
TCP, a mobile device can be connected to a cellular and a Wi-Fi network at the same time, and
the TCP end-to-end connection is maintained as the use moves in and out of coverage.
Conversation: Why We Need Convergence
Interview with Dr. Derek Peterson, CTO, Boingo Wireless
The combination of 11ax and 5G will push us experience is 360-degree video: you can sit in
toward a convergence of multiple wireless a room and have a virtual reality experience
technologies across licensed, unlicensed and instead of staring at a TV screen. We need
shared bands – Wi-Fi, 5G, LTE, MulteFire, higher speeds and lower latency to have this
CBRS and more. New technologies enable type of immersive experience. We want our
convergence, but it is our pervasive networks to be part of our physical world, to be
connectivity needs – from IoT to immersive bring the physical and the digital world
experiences – that drives it and makes it together. We need both Wi-Fi and 5G to get
necessary. We cannot choose between Wi-Fi there.
and 5G: we need them both. I talked with Dr.
Question: How will Wi-Fi and 5G work
Derek Peterson, CTO at Boingo Wireless
together to create this immersive experience,
about the role of convergence as we enter the
or feed our data consumption?
11ax and 5G era.
Derek: We have tried to get Wi-Fi and cellular
Question: Both 11ax and 5G promise blazing
to work together since the early 2000s and the
speeds and extra-low latencies. Some argue
path continues. Abraham Lincoln said: “the
that we may not need them, and that it may be
best way to predict your future is to create it.” It
too expensive to build the necessary
is upon us to push ourselves so that we can
infrastructure. Do you think they are right?
create a future in which Wi-Fi, 5G and 4G work
Derek: We are consistently using more data, together to meet our connectivity needs, all the
and we consistently want better experiences way to immersive experiences.
with our networks. When we look back, we had
To make that happen, we still need Wi-Fi. And
our first life, our physical life, and then we had
we still need cellular. I’ve heard arguments that
our digital life. They were very separate. Then
in the future cellular will take over, and Wi-Fi
in the last two decades, applications tried to
will disappear. I’ve heard Wi-Fi people say the
bring that digital and physical life closer
same thing about cellular.
together – with apps like Foursquare for
checking yourself into a location. Now what The reality is that to take advantage of all of
we’re trying to do is to get immersed inside of the use cases we need Wi-Fi, and we need
our content. A good example of immersive
Figure 34. Network Convergence. Source: Boingo Wireless

cellular. We need them to work together, and Question: Will convergence lead to a more
we need to work towards that. efficient use of spectrum resources?
Question: What is the role of unlicensed Derek: 11ax will provide better coverage and
spectrum with the transition to 5G and the capacity for Wi-Fi and 802.11ah will give us
increased interest in using 4G and 5G with long distance connections for IoT. There’s also
unlicensed spectrum? 802.11ad for short range, high speed.
Derek: With unlicensed spectrum, we get But we need convergence across access
access to spectrum without purchasing large technologies to take advantage of all spectrum
swaths of airwaves and this allows us to ranges – from below 1 GHz to the 1-6 GHz
innovate. We need to continue and expand this band, where most traffic is transported today,
innovation cycle. Unlicensed spectrum allows to the 38 GHz and 60 GHz. We also need to
us to create new performance layers and increase spectrum efficiency.
flexibility for all kinds of service providers and
All sides of spectrum—licensed, unlicensed,
all kinds of use cases.
shared—have a use case. We need to
Question: What do we need to do with Wi-Fi understand what different spectrum ranges can
to achieve this convergence of Wi-Fi and 5G? do and identify how we can benefit from their
characteristics.
Derek: Wi-Fi has to be able to create a carrier
grade experience. To do so, we need network Question: How will convergence shape the
discovery and access, and create a high densification of the in-building space?
quality, secured and manageable user
Derek: In our hyper-dense, converged
experience.
networks of the future, we will no longer
Passpoint is a step towards this goal: it allows connect only to cell towers, as we used to. The
users to use the same credentials on their in-building infrastructure will take on a larger
devices to connect to the local network and to role and this is where Wi-Fi has a strong
the cellular network. presence already. The connected venue of the
future is at the center of Wi-Fi and 5G
We are also going to be able to take
convergence, and it has to take advantage of
advantage of multiple services across Wi-Fi,
all wireless access technologies to support
4G and 5G. To do so, we need our 5G, 4G and
data and voice access, IoT and immersive
Wi-Fi cores working together, and we need to
experience use cases.
deliver SLAs that work across all of these
access technologies.
Ecosystem
Collaboration with 3GPP, Wi-Fi Alliance,IEEE, Next Generation Mobile Networks
NGMN [NBED confirm] on standardization, industry best practices and guidelines,
convergence
Operator trials
Testing and interoperability
Service certification and compliancy, including the Interoperability Compliance
Program
Spectrum allocation
Carrier Wi-Fi
Further expansion of NGH, WRIX, and Passpoint
Harmonized Wi-Fi architecture for Wi-Fi calling
NGH provisioning standardization to further improve network discovery and
association, device onboarding
Definition of requirement set for QoS
Integration of Wi-Fi and cellular with ANDSF and Hotspot 2.0 to support policy across
the two technologies
Location-based services and use cases
Next Generation Wireless and 5G

Enhance Wi-Fi 11ax working group, supporting 11ax trials
Densification, in-building coverage
Wi-Fi and 5G integration in the access network and in the core
Wireless convergence
Multi Connectivity Trial to explore RAT interworking
IoT
IoT verticals addressable by Wi-Fi
IoT Wi-Fi roaming
Expansion of NGH, WRIX, and Passpoint to include IoT devices and services
Connected cities to explore smart cities IoT deployments, use cases and busines
models, under the guidance of the Connected City Advisory Board (CCAC)
In-Home Connectivity
Support for new IoT use cases
Management of Wi-Fi management in homes with a high number of Wi-Fi devices
and multiple hotspots
Supporting Technologies
Edge computing and networks slicing to manage Wi-Fi traffic
Decentralized Wi-Fi networks with blockchain
Artificial intelligence and machine learning to manage and troubleshoot the Wi-Fi
infrastructure
11 The next year in Wi-Fi: Initiatives and focus areas at the WBAf
12 Summary
NBED Conclusion
NBED Conclusion
NBED Conclusion
NBED Conclusion
NBED Conclusion
NBED Conclusion
13 Summary
WBA INDUSTRY SURVEY: METHODOLOGY
The WBA conducted its annual survey during the 2018 summer on the use and perception of Wi-Fi
among its members and the general public. Among the 184 respondents, service providers and
operators accounted for 38%, equipment and IT vendors for 27%, and device vendors for 9%; 39%
were from North America, 33% from Europe, and 24% from Asia Pacific. The largest groups of
respondents were from North America (39%) and from Western Europe (33%). For questions that
targeted a specific group (e.g., operators or smart cities), only the answers from that group were
included. Respondents had the option to remain anonymous, but most volunteered their name and
job affiliation.
REFERENCES
[1] ABI Research, ABI Research Anticipates More Than 20s Billion Cumulative Wi-Fi Chipset
Shipments by 2021 While Increased Use of 5GHz Spectrum Raises Coexistence Issues
with LTE-U, 2016.
[2] Byron Magrane, Next-Generation Wireless at Mobile World Congress, 2018.
[3] Cisco, Cisco Delivers High Quality Wi-Fi Network Connectivity for over 20,000 Attendees
at Mobile World Congress Americas, in partnership with CTIA, 2017.
[4] Cisco, Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021, 2017.
[5] Cisco, IEEE 802.11ax: The Sixth Generation of Wi-Fi, 2018.
[6] Cisco, The Zettabyte Era:Trends and Analysis, 2017.
[7] Dan Klaeren, Business Guide for Wi-Fi Roaming Wholesale Success, Syniverse, 2016
[8] Emeka Obiodu, Mark Giles, The 5G era: Age of boundless connectivity and Intelligent
Automation, GSMA, 2017.
[9] Ericsson, Ericsson Mobility Report, 2018.
[10] Matt MacPherson, Cisco Lights Up Barcelona, Cisco, 2018.
[11] Raul Katz, Assessment of the Current and Future Economic Value of Unlicensed
Spectrum In the United States, Telecom Advisory Services, 2018.
[12] Raul Katz, Fernando Callorda, The Economic Value of Wi-Fi: A Global View (2018 and
2023), Telecom Advisory Services, 2018.
[13] Reza Jafari, Alphonso Jenkins, Julie Snell, Tiago Rodrigues, Connected City Blueprint,
Connected City Advisory Board, Wireless Broadband Alliance, 2017.
[14] Steve Methle, William Webb, Wi-Fi Spectrum Needs Study, Quotient Associates Limited,
2017.
[15] Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi 6: High Performance, Next Generation Wi-Fi, 2018.
[16] Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance Publishes 2018 Wi-Fi Predictions, 2018.
[17] Wireless Broadband Alliance, 5G Workgroup, 5G Networks:The Role of Wi-Fi and
Unlicensed Technologies, 2017.
[18] Wireless Broadband Alliance, Cisco, Great teamwork brings NGH Live to MWC18, 2018.
[19] Wireless Broadband Alliance, Enhanced Wi-Fi – 802.11ax Decoded: Overview, Features,
Use Cases and 5G Context, 2018.
[20] Wireless Broadband Alliance, internet of Things: New Vertical Value Chains &
Interoperability, 2017.
[21] Wireless Broadband Alliance, IoT Interoperability: Dynamic Roaming, 2018.
[22] Wireless Broadband Alliance, Network Slicing: Understanding Wi-Fi Capabilities, 2018.
[23] Wireless Broadband Alliance, The Urban Unconnected, HIS Markit and Wireless Broadband
Alliance, 2017.
[24] Wireless Broadband Alliance, Wi-Fi: Value-Add and Advertising: The Evolution of Wi-Fi
Advertising and Location Service, 2018.
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ACRONYM /
DEFINITION
ABBREVIATION
AGV Automated Guided Vehicles
AI Artificial Intelligence
ANDSF Access Network Discovery and Selection Function
AP Access Point
AR Augmented Reality
BSS Basic Service Set
BSSID Basic Service Set IDs
CBRS Citizens Broadband Radio Service
CWSC Carrier Wireless Services Certification
DPP Device Provisioning Protocol
DSRC Dedicated Short-Range Communications
EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol
FOTA Firmware Over the Air
FWA Fixed Wireless Access
GRX Global Roaming Exchange
GSMA Global System for Mobile Communications Association
ICO Initial Coin Offering
ICP Interoperability Compliancy Program
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IIoT Industrial Internet of Things
iOS iPhone Operating System
IoT Internet of Things
IP Internet Protocol
ITS Intelligent Transportation Services

ITU International Telecommunication Union
LAA Licensed-Assisted Access
LAN Local Area Network
LoRA Long Range
LR-WPANs Low-rate Wireless Personal Area Networks
LTE Long Term Evolution
M2M Machine to Machine
MEC Multi-access Edge Computing
MIMO Multiple Input, Multiple Output
mmW Millimeter Wave
MSO Multiple-System Operator
MU-MIMO Multi-user Multiple Input, Multiple Output
MVNO Mobile Virtual Network Operator
MWC Mobile World Congress
MWCA Mobile World Congress Americas
NB-IoT Narrow-Band IoT
NDCP National Digital Communication Policy
NFC Near Field Communications
NGMN Next Generation Mobile Networks
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency-division Multiple Access
OTT Over The Top
OWE Opportunistic Wireless Encryption
PALs Priority Access Licenses
PMF Protected Management Frames
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QoS Quality of Service
RAN Radio Access Network
SAE Simultaneous Authentication of Equals

SAML Security Assertion Markup Language
SaMOG S2a- and S2b-based Mobility Over GTP
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SSID Service Set Identifier
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
UE User Equipment
URLLC Ultra-reliable Low Latency Communications
URLL Ultra-Reliable Low Latency
VLAN Virtual Local Access Networks
VNI Virtual Networking Index
VR Virtual Reality
WBA Wireless Broadband Alliance
WGC Wireless Global Congress
WISPs Wireless Internet Service Providers
WISPr Wireless Internet Service Provider Roaming
WRIX-d WRIX Data Clearing
WRIX f WRIX Financial Settlement
WRIX-i WRIX Interconnect
WRIX-l WRIX Location
WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access

APPENDIX
Wi-Fi 6: New features
NBED add source From WBA white paper

a. New and Improved Features in 11ax Compared to the Previous Generation of Wi-Fi, 11ac
Newly introduced 11ax features Improved 11ax features compared to 11ac
Target Wake Time Multi-User MIMO Downlink

OFDMA Uplink & Downlink Flexible Channel Sizes
Transmission Scheduling Peak Speeds
(Service Provider Point of View) Transmit Beamforming
Multi-User MIMO Uplink
Spatial Re-Use/Color Codes
Dual Band Frequencies (Standardized)
Improved Outdoor Performance
Support of New Frequency Ranges (6 GHz)
b. Technical Description and Business Advantage and Impact of 11ax

Feature Description Business Advantage/Impact
Increases efficiency and reduces latency as Improves Wi-Fi performance,
OFDMA Uplink & several devices can communicate particularly in high density, high
Downlink concurrently, with spectrum resource throughput environments (such as
allocated proportional to needs. stadiums and auditoriums).
Scheduling allows transmissions to be Better resource utilization and
Transmission orchestrated, users are scheduled so that increased efficiency (latency). Service
Scheduling data requests on the uplink do not clash level assurances can be supported
with each other. over the 11ax infrastructure.
Serves up to 8 users simultaneously
Increase channel capacity when servicing
Multi-User MIMO for a significant capacity boost.
multiple simultaneous devices (up to 8x8).
Uplink & Addresses use cases from enterprise
Multi-User uplink added to improve
Downlink networks, large public venues and
real-time traffic performance.
multi-dwelling buildings.
Faster modulation schemes up to 1024 Support new use cases such as UHD
Peak Speeds QAM allows peak gigabit speeds (up to Video, AR/VR, and Next-gen e-
4x-6x faster than 11ac). Classrooms.
Channel sizes are chosen based on More efficient IoT support (when lower
Flexible Channel
different applications (20/40/80/160MHz). data rates are required), allowing
Sizes and
20 MHz channels may be further broken devices to use less power, or support
Resource Units down into smaller 2MHz resource units. greater coverage ranges.
IoT low power (constrained) use cases
Orchestrate specific times when clients
Target Wake are effectively addressed by
wake from sleep to reduce access
Time significantly improving device battery
contention.
life.
Collision between signals from nearby
Differentiates transmissions from
Spatial Reuse / networks are mitigated. Useful for
neighboring networks. Allows APs to more
Color Codes venues such as retail malls, multi-
efficiently share channel capacity.
dwelling units, etc.
Support both 2.4 GHz and 5GHz – now All previous Wi-Fi generations are
Dual Band
standardized and works across both bands compatible and spectrum usage
Frequencies
in a unified way possibilities expand.
Increased Guard Increase intervals up to 3.2 us and longer Improves outdoor deployments,
Interval and cyclic prefix reduces inter-symbol specifically enhances range/
Cyclic Prefix interference. performance.
Improves outdoor deployments,
Mid-amble used to improve performance
New Mid-amble specifically enhances performance in
in presence of Doppler moving environments
Enabling new swathes of spectrum to
New Frequency 802.11ax supported frequency ranges have
be leveraged for delivering improved
Ranges been extended to include the 6 GHz band.
performance.
[THIS PAGE MUST COME LAST
DUE TO THE FOOTER]

WBA Annual Industry Report 2018

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

WBA Annual Industry Report 2018

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Monica Paolini, Senza Fili

Source: Wireless Broadband Alliance

Follow Wireless Broadband Alliance at:

ABOUT SENZA FILI

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

1 Introduction: Wi-Fi Keeps Pushing the Envelope............................................................................8

Figure 1: WBA Industry Survey: Confidence in Wi-Fi............................................................................8

Table 1. 11ax Benefits. Source: WBA, Senza Fili.................................................................................4

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Figure 1: WBA Industry Survey: Confidence in Wi-Fi

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Question: What does the Wi-Fi evolution cover beyond Passpoint?

Question: How does Wi-Fi fit into the IoT ecosystem?

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

Report Title: WBA Annual Industry Report 2018/19

2.1 IEEE 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6: The Next Generation in Performance

Wi-Fi performance with the current 11ac interface

Higher Capacity And Throughput

Technology Evolution with 11ax

OFDMA DL/UL. Lower latency, higher number of supported

 Retail Venues. Higher accuracy in location-based services, marketing and advertising.

Figure . WBA Industry Survey: Wireless Technologies Planned Deployments

Figure . Starbucks Reserve at Jongro Tower, the largest Starbucks

2.3 Improved Roaming and Management of Mobile Devices

 Better management of spectrum resources based on real-time network conditions

 Better security and quality of service (QoS) when roaming

 Network-assisted roaming for improved network discovery and selection

2.4 WPA3: The Next Generation in Security

More Effective Security Mechanisms For Users

As in WPA2, there are two versions of WPA3:

 WPA3-Enteprise to protect enterprise, government and defense networks. It introduces 192-bit

3.1 Home Networks

 Mobility: smart phone and laptop connectivity

 Wellness Monitoring: blood pressure and pulse monitors, smart scales

 Rich Entertainment: smart speakers, smart TVs

 Energy Management: air quality monitors, smart thermostats, smart plugs

 Home Automation: smart lights, contact sensors, gateways

3.2 Enterprise and Venue Owners

3.3 Carriers and Service Providers

3.4 IoT and IIoT

3.5 Connected Cities

3.6 Connecting the Unconnected

4 Wi-Fi Roaming: A Better User Experience and Revenue Opportunity with

Building Blocks of Wi-Fi Roaming

Table 4. Building Blocks of Wi-Fi Roaming

Figure 6: WBA Industry Survey: NGH Passpoint Adoption

 Cisco works with Samsung to launch the first NGH-enabled handset.

 WBA teams up with Wi-Fi Alliance to harmonize NGH specifications.

 WBA member companies launch NGH trials.

 Major global telecom operators successfully complete NGH trials.

 US pioneers massive NGH commercial rollout as it is deployed at Chicago O’Hare

 WBA launches the Connected City Advisory Board.

 NGH returns to Mobile World Congress, deployed by WBA members companies.

 WBA calls for standardization of Quality of Service for Carrier Wi-Fi.

 WBA standardizing provisioning on NGH networks helps to improve customer experience

Figure 9. WBA Industry Survey: Roaming in City Wi-Fi Networks

Wi-Fi at Barcelona’s MWC 2018

4.3 Intermediary Hubs Create a Roaming Market Place

The Road Ahead