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Pioneering Connectivity: Loughborough University’s OpenRoaming™ Journey
Learn How OpenRoaming is Transforming Connectivity in the Education Sector
Loughborough University, a leading UK institution renowned for its sports programs, is home to over 40 research bodies and centers across 18 academic departments in Leicestershire, England. Since 2023, the University has been at the forefront of the Wi-Fi revolution, implementing OpenRoaming™ to enhance its vast campus network. With a history dating back to 1909, Loughborough University has consistently adopted advanced technology to improve the experiences of its diverse community and international visitors.
The adoption of WBA OpenRoaming is pivotal in its digital transformation efforts, highlighting the growing necessity for robust and secure connectivity solutions in today’s technology-driven educational environments.
Discover the Benefits of OpenRoaming Now
Learn from Loughborough University’s successful deployment of OpenRoaming. Find out how you can join the WBA OpenRoaming initiative and bring seamless, secure Wi-Fi to your educational institution. Enhance your connectivity infrastructure with proven solutions and expert insights.
Download the Case Study and Join WBA OpenRoaming to start transforming your campus network today.
World Wi-Fi Day – 2024 Media Kit
Download the World W-Fi Day Media Kit with all social assets you can use on your networking platform. Ensure you tag and mention #worldwifiday and we can like and share
Wi-Fi Roaming Standard – WRIX Umbrella Document
WBA defines roaming set-up best practices for service providers and outlines the reasons for providing roaming services as well as suitable strategies to adopt. Standards are provided for the type of information needed from the Wi-Fi network, together with guidelines on how to exchange relevant information between involved parties. Moreover, WBA maintains a database of Operators roaming related data, including the WBAID that is solely provided and maintained by the WBA.
This WRIX Umbrella document is an integral part of the whole Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRIX) Framework, developed by the WBA Roaming Work Group. This document defines the means by which operators may interconnect with each other, either directly or through their respective WRIX-is, for the purposes of providing wireless broadband roaming services to their end-users. It also provided a guidance for best practices of Wi-Fi Roaming and overview of WRIX interfaces and entities.
Signaling AP Location for Wi-Fi Roaming
As Wi-Fi networks mature, identifying the location of access points has become increasingly critical for various functions, including network management, troubleshooting, security, and regulatory compliance.
The “Signaling AP Location for Wi-Fi Roaming” report explores scenarios where an Identity Provider (IDP) can benefit from knowing the location of an End-User authenticating at an Access Network Provider (ANP) using the IDP’s credentials. This is especially relevant as Wi-Fi becomes integrated into multi-technology networks, leading to complex financial settlement arrangements and mission-critical applications where location reporting becomes essential.
Key benefits to the Wi-Fi industry highlighted in this report include:
- Identifying use cases where communicating the location of End-Users or ANP APs to the IDP is crucial, such as network selection (Wi-Fi or cellular) based on AP location, Connected vehicle fleet management, Roaming Hub Policy, and Emergency call support for Mobile Vurtial Network Operators, Emergency calling using OpenRoaming architecture.
- Identifying current standards and gaps where further guidelines or standards work may be necessary.
- Raising awareness in the industry of this need and providing a starting point for addressing it for both manufacturers and IDPs.
This report crystallizes the emerging need for AP location information in Wi-Fi roaming scenarios, providing concrete recommendations to aid and accelerate industry adoption of Signaling Location in RADIUS. It also addresses technical challenges and opportunities for consistent and standardized delivery of location information within OpenRoaming, ensuring comprehensive and consistent location reporting across the industry for more efficient Wi-Fi network management.
For organizations eager to share relevant use cases and learning on Wi-Fi Roaming, we encourage you to reach out to the WBA Program Management Office (PMO) at pmo@wballiance.com. Be part of shaping the future of Wi-Fi.
Connected Communities Forum (CCF) Meeting – March 21, 2024
WBA’s Connected Communities Forum (CCF) co-hosted an exciting event with Dentons Global Smart Cities & Connected Communities Think Tank, featuring a fireside chat with Robert Schwartz, President & CEO of Anterix and a panel discussion moderated by Clint Vince and featuring Erin Spears, New Orleans City Council; Theo Blackwell MBE, Chief Digital Officer for Mayor of London; David Wilkins, Head of Digital Place at Westminster City Council; Michael Lee Sherwood, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for City of Las Vegas; and Alphonso Jenkins, Strategist for Broadband Communications.
Enterprise Connectivity Forum (ECF) – March 6, 2024 – Presentation Slide Deck
The first ECF meeting of 2024 featured Fira Barcelona sharing the details of their deployment of OpenRoaming, hot off the back of Mobile World Congress 2024; Ahold Delhaize on using OpenRoaming to deliver retail excellence in their 7000+ stores in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg and allowing users to connect to Wi-Fi via their loyalty app; plus a lively panel discussion featuring top executives from Cloud4Wi and Ruckus-CommScope, including audience participation. Learn more about the ECF and how you can get involved here: https://wballiance.com/ecf/
Enterprise Connectivity Forum (ECF) – March 6, 2024 Meeting Replay
The first ECF meeting of 2024 featured Fira Barcelona sharing the details of their deployment of OpenRoaming, hot off the back of Mobile World Congress 2024; Ahold Delhaize on using OpenRoaming to deliver retail excellence in their 7000+ stores in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg and allowing users to connect to Wi-Fi via their loyalty app; plus a lively panel discussion featuring top executives from Cloud4Wi and Ruckus-CommScope, including audience participation. Learn more about the ECF and how you can get involved here: https://wballiance.com/ecf/
High-Quality 10 Gbps Campus Network Construction White Paper
During the Mobile World Congress 2024 (MWC 2024), Huawei and the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) jointly released the High-Quality 10 Gbps Campus Network Construction White Paper at the summit themed “Leading Infrastructure to Accelerate Industrial Intelligence”. This white paper puts forwards the philosophy of experience-centric campus network construction; it also delves into how Huawei’s High-Quality 10 Gbps CloudCampus Solution offers three types of experience upgrade — wireless experience upgrade, application experience upgrade, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) experience upgrade — to accelerate enterprises’ digital and intelligent journey.
