Qualcomm, Telkom Indonesia, Telecom New Zealand & CableLabs amongst others sign up to the global network body to accelerate next generation Wi-Fi

London, UK – June 10th, 2013 – The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the industry association focused on driving the next generation Wi-Fi experience, today announced 10 new members have joined its efforts to enhance the development of public Wi-Fi throughout the world. Since November 2012, the new members include CableLabs, MediaTek, Mosaik Solutions, NEC BIGLOBE, Qualcomm, Sharedband, Smith Micro, Spice Digital, Telkom Indonesia and Telecom New Zealand, bringing the WBA membership total to 100. They join at a pivotal time when carrier Wi-Fi is starting to prove its mettle around the world and WBA initiatives such as Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) and the Interoperability Compliance Program (ICP) for Wi-Fi roaming are laying the groundwork to make Wi-Fi truly seamless, interoperable and secure.

The WBA membership is made up of a mix of leading Wi-Fi, mobile and broadband network operators and media players from across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. It is currently championing various initiatives in the Wi-Fi ecosystem including Wi-Fi Roaming, the ICP and NGH trials involving many of the world’s largest operators and vendors such as AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, Orange, NTT DOCOMO, China Mobile, Cisco, LG, Intel and Ericsson. The WBA is also engaged in various Wi-Fi related projects with industry groups such as the GSMA, Small Cell Forum, Wi-Fi Alliance and new member CableLabs.

Shrikant Shenwai, CEO of the WBA said: “The WBA welcomes these new additions at a very exciting time for the Wi-Fi industry when we are finally starting to see operators make NGH a reality. There are also many other promising commercial opportunities around Wi-Fi that are coming to the fore for all carriers, including unlocking the potential of global Roaming through improved integration techniques. I look forward to meeting our new members along with other industry leaders from all parts of the ecosystem at our Wi-Fi Global Congress in London next week.”

The new members join existing members which include some of the biggest names in the telecoms industry such as AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, China Mobile, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Google, Intel Corporation, iPass, KT Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, Orange and Time Warner Cable. WBA operator members collectively serve more than 1 billion subscribers and operate more than 5 million hotspots globally.

The WBA will be hosting its 3rd Wi-Fi Global Congress at the Tower Hotel in London this week during 10th -13th June. There will be a number of presentations from WBA members and partners including AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BSkyB, BT, Cisco, China Mobile, GSMA, NTT DOCOMO, Small Cell Forum and the Wi-Fi Alliance. For more details on the event, please visit: http://www.wifiglobalcongress.com

Notes to Editors
List of new WBA member companies

  • CableLabs
  • MediaTek
  • Mosaik Solutions
  • NEC BIGLOBE
  • Qualcomm
  • Sharedband
  • Smith Micro
  • Spice Digital
  • Telkom Indonesia
  • Telecom New Zealand

Press Contact:
Stephanie Ross
Temono for Wireless Broadband Alliance
+44 207 089 8896
wba@temono.com

About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Founded in 2003, the aim of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to secure an outstanding user experience through the global deployment of next generation Wi-Fi. In order to make this a reality, the WBA is currently championing various initiatives in the Wi-Fi ecosystem including Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) trials, Wi-Fi Roaming and its Interoperability Compliance Program (ICP). 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, Google and Intel. WBA member operators collectively serve more than 1 billion subscribers and operate more than 5 million hotspots globally. The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, China Mobile, Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, iPass, KT Corporation, NTT DOCOMO and Orange.

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