Facilitating and simplifying the process of Wi-Fi roaming agreements has always been a key focus area for the Wireless Broadband Alliance and it is fast becoming an important consideration for many mobile and fixed operators around the globe. Convergence among Wi-Fi roaming standards is an important step towards making this a reality for operators. In January 2013, WBA and CableLabs established a joint task force to help agree on a standard set of Wi-Fi roaming specifications and further encourage Wi-Fi interworking and roaming between operators.
Both forums got to work straight away to investigate the synergies and address the gaps that existed between the two on Wi-Fi related specifications and guidelines with the end goal of achieving complete alignment in these areas. The initial gap analysis for 2013 has just been completed with 17 member organizations accepting the call to arms including: AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BSG Wireless, BSkyB, BT, Comcast, Cox Communications, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel Corporation, iPass, Juniper Networks, Shaw Communications, Smith Micro Inc., Time Warner Cable and TNS.
For year 2013, the joint task force identified two deliverables:
- Performing an alignment between WBA Wireless Roaming Intermediary Exchange for Interconnection (WRIX-i) standard and the CableLabs ROAM specification. Including connectivity protocols between networks, revision of AAA server Radius attributes and device to network requirements
- Aligning WRIX-L (Location) and the CableLabs WSL specification – both WRIX-L and WSL are oriented around exchanging data between hotspot roaming partners. The work performed will facilitate the collection of data by carriers and the alignment of concepts and definitions
The team performed the gap analysis for the above mentioned efforts in order to identify and formulate recommendations on addressing the key differences.
