This blog is the first in a series highlighting how Wi-Fi 6 impacts different industry segments and verticals. First we focus on carriers.

With Wi-Fi 6, the new common name for the IEEE 802.11ax standard, expected later this year, what should operators and network providers expect and how will it impact their technology roadmaps and business? We’re starting to see attention-grabbing headlines like “5G vs Wi-Fi 6”, so operators would be forgiven for not knowing whether Wi-Fi 6 was even a friend or foe. In this article, we aim to lay some of this hyperbole to rest and explain the impact and opportunities Wi-Fi 6 will generate for carriers.

First of all, let’s take a look at what’s new with Wi-Fi 6. It will be faster, with theoretical data speeds of up to 9.6 Gigabits per second. It will have better range and will also include a “beamforming” capability, as with 5G, meaning less “dead zones” in the home or office environment. There will be better battery life for IOT devices connected to it, thanks to a new power-saving feature called Target Wake Time (TWT). Arguably one of the major headline capabilities is OFDMA which enables a router to manage traffic more efficiently by using smaller channel slices allowing more devices to share the same airtime, which means more devices are able to utilize the network and increases capacity by up to 4 times – very useful in many settings from the home to sports arenas. It also increases noise tolerance allowing for a larger coverage area for low bit rate clients such as IoT.

For more information on the benefits and applications of Wi-Fi 6 check out the WBA Wi-Fi 6 Decoded Paper and also the Network Slicing Paper.

And what about the timeline? The IEEE is expected to officially ratify the standard later this year or early next year, though few people expect any major changes by this point, as the standard is already well- baked. This has meant that we have already seen a number of pre-standard Wi-Fi 6 compatible devices come into the market. Wi-Fi 6 compatible routers are already available from the likes of Cisco, Commscope, HPE Aruba and many more. On the device side, the most notable compatible device is the Samsung Galaxy S10. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6™ from Wi-Fi Alliance is expected to be ready in Q4 2019. What is now a trickle will likely become a flood over the coming months.

So isn’t this a threat to operators? To quote the holographic character Alfred Lanning in the 2004 blockbuster “I, Robot”, “you must ask the right questions.” Wi-Fi is the most ubiquitous wireless technology in human history and Wi-Fi 6 is happening, so there is no stopping this particular juggernaut. The better question is “How can carriers harness the technology to further develop their business?”

Potential benefits to carriers

Operators that want to distinguish their 5G networks competitively and generate additional revenue opportunities should look at the possibilities that Wi-Fi 6 affords. The integration of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G will give operators new ways to optimize traffic across access networks. They will be able to direct traffic to the interface that supports the best user experience or the most efficient use of network resources, based on operator policy or on real-time network conditions, traffic or application type.

Moreover, integration of Wi-Fi in 5G networks have the potential to be implemented at multiple levels – devices, access and core. Depending on the type of integration desired, network operators will also have the opportunity to choose from a number of integration tools. Savvy operators will understand the benefits that Wi-Fi 6 enables for 5G networks. WBA members have been working on the different approaches and options and what is needed to make it happen. The latest project on RAN Convergence will be published in September. All the current published results can be found here.

Telecom providers have long viewed Wi-Fi as a source of revenue and differentiation in home and business markets. This is understandable considering that about half of IP traffic across all devices is delivered via Wi-Fi. In the 5G Era, operators that utilize
Wi-Fi 6 gain the capacity, coverage and performance required for many lucrative use cases, including the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and connected vehicles.

But Wi-Fi 6 also will play an important role for operators that already use Wi-Fi to provide data and voice access to their subscribers and guests. In areas with high traffic density and/or indoor where cellular lacks coverage, Wi-Fi is frequently used as an offload and complementary technology to lighten congestion in the macro cellular network and augment capacity. Many operators have built and operate this hotspot infrastructure, while others connect through hotspots managed by neutral hosts, enterprises and other venues.

Wi-Fi offload – especially when using residential and enterprise networks not owned by the service provider – will continue to provide huge cost savings to mobile operators in a 5G world. Operators will optimize their network resources and investment by balancing traffic among wireless access interfaces to optimize both the user experience and network resource utilization. Integrating Wi-Fi 6 and 5G gives operators the ability to use policy to allocate traffic flows to the best access interface, taking into account real-time network conditions and user demand.

Revenue opportunities

A number of vendors already are creating Wi-Fi roaming hubs, which are intermediaries for Wi-Fi operators to connect with the home service providers. These Wi-Fi hubs can create online wholesale negotiation platforms and contractual agreements between Wi-Fi operators and service providers, which all members of the platform can use.

By participating in a hub, Wi-Fi operators widen their reach and gain additional revenues if they charge for access. They also stand to improve the guest experience, and participate in marketing activities enabled by the hub. Service providers, meanwhile, can offer a larger hotspot footprint to their subscribers and benefit from cellular offload.

Operators also have revenue opportunities based on next-generation hotspot (NGH) and Passpoint, an industry-wide solution that streamlines network access in Wi-Fi hotspots. NGH-Passpoint initially was created to enable seamless Wi-Fi roaming that would be profitable for carriers and Wi-Fi operators. NGH-Passpoint has since expanded and become a framework that enables more efficient use of network resources, improved user experience and the deployment of new services.

Impact on IoT

Wi-Fi 6 will have a significant impact on IoT. It is estimated that by 2021, machine to machine (M2M) IoT connections will account for more than half of all wireless connections. IoT devices already outnumber smartphones; in fact, it’s estimated that the number of IoT devices will be twice that of smartphones by 2020.

Combined, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will improve signal strength to support IoT deployments, support always-on devices and reduce overcrowding of resources with high-capacity networks. In essence, IoT devices will be able to send more information and use less power.

These devices will create and store massive amounts of data in the cloud at all times. The flexibility of the cloud will enable service providers to modify applications in real time. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based applications and machine learning programs also will be built in the cloud, including wireless applications used in healthcare, manufacturing and other burgeoning IoT applications.

As service providers continue to build 5G networks with an eye toward developing new, sustainable revenue streams, they would be wise to incorporate Wi-Fi 6 into those plans. Wi-Fi 6 delivers faster network performance, connects more devices simultaneously and provides multiple opportunities for delivering savings or increasing revenues.

To find out more about the WBA’s current programs on Wi-Fi 6, click here:

To find out more about all WBA programs, click here