Latest WBA whitepaper reveals that Wi-Fi is the leading unlicensed technology under the 5G umbrella
Singapore, 6 September 2017 – The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has published its initial assessment into how Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies will contribute to the 5G framework definition. The whitepaper explores the opinions of more than 65 companies across the globe, concluding that: 5G will be a combination of licensed and unlicensed technologies – with Wi-Fi and its current evolution playing a leading role; the convergence of services and coexistence of technologies are vital to the 5G roadmap; and standardization remains a key milestone for 5G becoming a reality. In addition, when it comes to business case and service development, the three highest ranking industry verticals – by priority – were smart cities, IoT sensor networks and safety/surveillance.
5G intends to enable a seamlessly connected society by 2020. It will bring together people, things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in a smart networked communications environment. Following on from the WBA’s “Roadmap for Coexistence and Convergence in 5G – Market Research” white paper in November 2016, the report forms part of the WBA’s strategy to actively embrace 5G. By examining some of the potential use cases currently envisaged as being able to exploit the capabilities of 5G, it addresses what the WBA, its members and the wider ecosystem need to do to prepare for 5G. For example, the existing work on Quality of Service and associated metrics required, as well as enhancements to the WRIX framework to meet the needs of 5G roaming. Moreover, WBA’s track record on testing and interoperability will be pivotal to provide a real world end-to-end testing environment for 5G unlicensed wireless building blocks that rely on a convergent approach.
“While plans to roll out 5G networks are well on their way, the industry still needs to agree upon the standards for the technology before 2020,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO, Wireless Broadband Alliance. “The WBA has put together this report to highlight the significant impact that Wi-Fi is having on the definition of 5G and what we as an organisation can do to bridge the gap between licensed and unlicensed technologies within this timeframe.”
He added: “The WBA will continue to develop its 5G strategy to work towards ensuring WBA and Wi-Fi networks are ready and enabled to meet the needs of a 5G-based world. Our aim is to satisfy the use cases and needs of the millions of customers and consumers of the world’s Wi-Fi networks, and the WBA operators and WBA connected cities dedicated to delivering that strategy and vision.”
The WBA’s latest report, entitled “5G Networks: The Role of Wi-Fi and Unlicensed Technologies”, is available to download here: https://wballiance.com/resources/wba-white-papers/.
About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Founded in 2003, the mission of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to champion the development of the converged wireless broadband ecosystem through seamless, secure and interoperable unlicensed wireless broadband services for delivering outstanding user experience. Building on our heritage of NGH and carrier Wi-Fi, WBA will continue to drive and support the adoption of Next Generation Wi-Fi services need coexistence and convergence of unlicensed and licensed networks across the entire public Wi-Fi ecosystem, including IoT, Big Data, Converged Services, Smart Cities, 5G, etc. Today, membership includes major fixed operators such as BT, Comcast and Time Warner Cable; seven of the top 10 mobile operator groups (by revenue) and leading technology companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Huawei Technologies, Google and Intel. WBA member operators collectively serve more than 2 billion subscribers and operate more than 30 million hotspots globally.
The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Intel, KT Corporation, Liberty Global, NTT DOCOMO, Orange and Ruckus Wireless. 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
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=50482
