Carrier Wireless Service Certification (CWSC) program allows carriers and vendors to independently test and certify devices. The program utilizes WBA Authorised Test Labs, working with Members and their partners to simulate end customer usability in a real network environment to ensure that devices are ready for worldwide commercial deployments, reducing customer support time for carriers and time to market for vendors.
To find out more about the CWSC program, please contact the WBA PMO team: pmo@wballiance.com
CWSC is the output of the WBA’s multi-operator Next-Generation Hotspot (NGH) trial program, which has been an ongoing collaboration between the WBA and its Members. A total of 20 vendors and 50 operators have participated in the end-to-end trials, simulating carrier services with real life scenarios, credentials and devices. Through the commercial launch of the CWSC program the WBA aims to foster worldwide commercial deployments and solve a number of business issues:
Operators
CWSC allows carriers to test Wi-Fi services end-to-end (from provisioning through to billing) against different equipment and credentials. This removes issues prior to commercial release, ensuring a better customer experience.
Vendors
Avoid multiple testing with different carriers, instead testing multiple devices across multiple carrier networks, gaining time to market. Vendors can also gain interoperability Certification to validate carrier’s requirements in order to facilitate sales, and save testing resources.
Consumers
The certification program serves to identify any issues with device interoperability ahead of its launch onto the network, removing the risk of customer dissatisfaction and guaranteeing a consistent user experience.
The CWSC program will initially focus on Wi-Fi Offload and Wi-Fi Roaming carrier services. Going forward, the WBA will introduce new services such as Wi-Fi Calling, NGH Inline Provisioning (secure SSID), Quality of Service, 5G Interoperability – Unlicensed integration and Policy interworking (ANDSF & HS2.0) to the program, as well as the 5G Building blocks test program. If you would like to find out more about the WBA programs, contact us: pmo@wballiance.com
What our members say:
“Aruba is a strong supporter of the CWSC certification and we are proud to be one of the first infrastructure vendors to participate in this important program. We agree that Wi-Fi roaming should be a uniform, easy experience for consumers; the CWSC program represents a significant step forward towards that goal.”
“As Chairman, I am proud of the WBA as the trade organization uniquely positioned to bring all the diverse players to the table to create a Wi-Fi roaming testing platform with a focus on end customer usability. The CWSC was born out of the many successful trials and demos the WBA organized bringing all the industry players together in real world settings,” said JR Wilson, Chairman of the WBA and AT&T Vice President of Alliances and Partnerships. “The CWSC continues the WBA’s commitment to develop and grow the Wi-Fi ecosystem and adds to our Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) program, which features end-to-end testing of Hotspot 2.0.”In its development phases, AT&T made Hotspot2.0 (HS2.0) an integral part of their strategy due to its ability to enable new Wi-Fi services. AT&T sees HS2.0 as critical in the development of its Wi-Fi network. In January 2015, AT&T started rolling out HS2.0 across its existing Wi-Fi network, and going forward new network buildouts will be HS2.0 capable.
“Convergence is the future for wireless connectivity where the coexistence of licensed and unlicensed technologies will anchor a new generation of innovation,” said Dr. Derek Peterson, WBA board member and CTO at Boingo Wireless. “NGH technology has been critical to helping us realize seamless interoperability between LTE and Wi-Fi and this new certification will greatly expand deployments around the world. Boingo is a proud participant of the beta program and we look forward to pioneering a new chapter in wireless.”
“The Carrier Wireless Services Certification program is a major step forward for the WBA and the industry, giving service providers an easy to understand designation for end-to-end capabilities to support Wi-Fi roaming, offload and hotspot provisioning technologies,” said Steve Martin, WBA board member and Chief Technology Officer, Ruckus. “Ruckus is very pleased to be part of the WBA’s efforts to ensure broad adoption of these methods to bring Wi-Fi further into the mainstream of carrier and service provider networks, and to further the discussion of the next generation of hotspot and Wi-Fi roaming capabilities, including 5G.”
“The CWSC program is a great time saver and value to companies wanting to engage in roaming or offload agreements because with Passpoint® and data offload the need to ensure that new network partners are able to comply with industry guidelines has never been more critical. We are seeing new networks enter into roaming agreements with no past experience with roaming, and the result is a lot of extra work, time and one-off testing for all parties. It is much more efficient for these networks to be evaluated and tested by an independent third party according to a predefined set of test cases so they can show their networks are compliant and ready support roaming agreement.”
How to get involved:
CWSC Authorised Test Labs:
Kyrio
“Kyrio is excited to be an authorized CWSC test lab for the WBA,” said Wylie Nelson, VP – Wireless and Testing Services, Kyrio. “We believe that the CWSC program is an important step to further wireless interoperability and improve connectedness. We are pleased to support this program with over 20 years of experience in testing and device interoperability, and a team of skilled engineers and comprehensive testing environments which enable us to ensure the level of quality and integrity required to work with the WBA.”
Granite River Labs
Granite River Labs is excited to be an authorized CWSC test lab for the WBA,” said Vamshi Kandalla, EVP and GM, Granite River Labs. “ The CWSC program provides certification of a manufacturers product for end-to-end real-world user experiences which is a critical step to further wireless interoperability and improve connectivity. As the Wireless industry continues to evolve and improve technologies supporting necessary services, the WBA continues to bring the industry closer to a ubiquitous and seamless roaming experience for the users.We are pleased to support this program with our Multi Man Years of experience in certification testing and device interoperability, and a team of skilled engineers to provide confidence to the industry”.
To find out more about the CWSC program, or if you’d like to talk to a representative about how to become a member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, use one of the contact forms to get in touch.
Alternatively, if you would like to sign up for CWSC membership click the button below:
