The Wireless Broadband Alliance is comprised of members who have come together to achieve a common goal: delivering an outstanding user experience thought next-generation Wi-Fi. We’re very proud to introduce you to these members, and give you a glimpse into their role within the WBA and the Wi-Fi ecosystem.

In this installment, we’re profiling Linktel – Marketing Director Patricia Ferreira was kind enough to provide us with answers to the following questions:

Tell us a little about Linktel, and its role within the Wi-Fi ecosystem.

Linktel is the number one Wi-Fi operator in Brazil, with over 4,000 hotspots and more than 5 million subscribers. We provide the fastest and most secure Wi-Fi in Brazil – it can be found in many shopping malls, airports, hotels, hospitals, Metro stations, soccer stadiums, cafes, restaurants, universities, and more! We are aiming to have over 6,000 hotspots across the country by the end of 2015 and 10,000 by the end of 2016.

What do you see as being the hot topics in Wi-Fi over the next 12 months?

Without a doubt, Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) is a major topic right now. Linktel is taking major steps to implement this throughout Brazil, and in fact, we just announced the first Brazilian stadium with passpoint – Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo. We’re continuing to work on the rollout, and hope to have it in five airports by the end of July, with another 15 by the end of this year. By the time that the Olympic Games begin in 2016, we should have passpoint ready in many key locations.

The NGH technology is moving very fast – at the Wi-Fi Global Congress in San Francisco last year, I participated in a panel discussion and discussed how Linktel was conducting trials for deploying NGH in 2015. And now, here we are!

Why has being a member of the WBA been beneficial to Linktel, and why would you recommend becoming a WBA member to other companies?

Linktel become a member of the WBA a little over a year ago, and it’s been a very positive experience for the company. The implementation of NGH in our network is a good example of this – the WBA has been a big help in accelerating the process. Linktel is also participating in the ICP (Interoperability Compliance) initiative, and we think that this will help us with the data offload, security, and much more.

Being a member of the WBA allows companies to participate in programs and projects that will influence the future of Wi-Fi. In addition to that, it provides great networking opportunities – we meet and work with many people and companies in the Wi-Fi industry, which is great for us, and for the industry itself.

You can learn more about Linktel by visiting their website.