Today marked the first day of a number of promotional activities which centred around Next Generation Hotspot and Passpoint. Greg Ennis, Vice President of Technology for the Wi-Fi Alliance kicked off proceedings with the launch of Passpoint Release 2. He highlighted the strategic importance of Wi-Fi in today’s mobile world and revealed that there are now more than 700 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint devices available to end-users.
The new features of Passpoint R2 include:
- On-the-spot account provisioning for new users
- Secure registration process to establish credentials and configuration for access
- Operator policy distribution to satisfy business requirements
This was followed by a networking drinks session where attendees were treated to a live demonstration of NGH. Willing participants boarded the NGH bus to experience first hand the seamless connectivity at a number of venues along Market Street and Union Square, with the evening ending at Fisherman’s wharf. A wide range of Passpoint enabled devices were made available for the experience.
To facilitate this event, the WBA collaborated with Ruckus Wireless and Global Reach who are hosting the live NGH network in the Palace Hotel; the City of San Francisco who are providing the NGH network on Market Street; and with Accuris Networks and BSG Wireless who are acting as the main hub providers.
These events show that the adoption and deployment of NGH and Passpoint network equipment and devices are becoming increasingly mainstream with more operators looking set to deploy in the coming years.
For more details on what to expect from the remainder of the event, please visit: www.wifiglobalcongress.com
