10 Years of World Wi-Fi Day!

This blog was written by Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

Ten years ago, World Wi-Fi Day started as an idea within the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) back in 2016: to create a symbolic day to celebrate all the good, innovation, empowerment and opportunity that Wi-Fi brings to the world.

Back in 2016, the WBA Board approved the creation of World Wi-Fi Day. JR Wilson, then Chairman of the WBA representing AT&T, Shrikant Shenwai, then CEO of the WBA, and Reza Jafari, WBA Board Advisor, were central to the idea of establishing World Wi-Fi Day. They had the full support of the WBA Board, the WBA Co-Chairs, WBA Advisors and senior staff, including myself.

The goal was simple: to create a global celebration day for Wi-Fi. It was decided at the time that World Wi-Fi Day would be celebrated on 20 June, around the summer solstice – the longest day of the calendar year, which normally falls on 20 or 21 June.

Since then, World Wi-Fi Day has been celebrated by millions of people, companies and organizations around the world. We have seen a US Congress resolution in support of it, articles from FCC Chairman, restaurants creating World Wi-Fi Day menus, companies organizing World Wi-Fi Day pizza parties, cycling rides, creative AI images and many other initiatives. In short, everything you can imagine has come together around this wonderful technology to celebrate one symbolic day: 20 June, World Wi-Fi Day.

Today, Wi-Fi is the most universal wireless broadband technology, connecting more than 21 billion devices and generating trillions of dollars in economic value. Yet its importance extends far beyond statistics. Wi-Fi has become fundamental to how we live, work, learn, communicate, innovate, and access opportunities. It enables businesses to operate, students to learn, healthcare to reach patients, and communities to participate in the digital economy.

And still, our work is not finished, there are still more than 2.6 billion people unconnected. As consumers, we often take Wi-Fi for granted because it is one of the wireless technologies we use multiple times every day, alongside 5G/4G, Bluetooth and NFC. Together, these technologies have changed the world, but Wi-Fi has taken a truly central role in the digital transformation of the globe.

As an industry, we have a responsibility to continue expanding access, driving innovation, and ensuring that connectivity reaches everyone, everywhere.

On behalf of the WBA Chairman Derek Peterson (representing Boingo Wireless), Co-Chairs Matt McPherson (representing Cisco) and Parley Casto (representing AT&T), the entire WBA Board and the WBA staff, I would like to thank everyone who has supported and celebrated, and World Wi-Fi Day over the past decade, and the next ten promise to be even more exciting.