Resource Centre

WGC EMEA 2024 (Paris) – Day 1 Replay, 9 October

WGC EMEA 2024 (Paris) – Day 2 Replay, 10 October

WBA OpenRoaming™ Introduction Guide

OpenRoaming offers a seamless, secure, and automatic Wi-Fi experience akin to cellular roaming. By bridging the gap between Wi-Fi networks worldwide, OpenRoaming simplifies connectivity for users, enhancing user experiences while maintaining robust security standards. This comprehensive guide, provided by the Wireless Broadband Alliance, delves into the technicalities, benefits, and strategic implementation of OpenRoaming to revolutionize public, guest, and enterprise Wi-Fi networks.

Who Should Read This Guide?

This guide is indispensable for network operators, service providers, technology vendors, and enterprise IT professionals who are looking to enhance their Wi-Fi service capabilities and offer a superior user experience.

Wi-Fi Experience for Moving Networks

In today’s connected world, reliable Wi-Fi is essential, even on the go. The “Wi-Fi Experience for Moving Networks” report delves into the critical need to improve Wi-Fi connectivity in dynamic environments such as buses, trains, planes, and ships. These moving networks face unique challenges, from fluctuating connectivity to security concerns, that require tailored solutions.

Key Insights:

• Challenges in Moving Networks: The report identifies key issues such as inconsistent service quality, handover difficulties, security risks, and the complexities of deploying Wi-Fi in moving vehicles.
• Innovative Solutions: It offers practical solutions like implementing advanced standards (Passpoint®), improving network transitions, enhancing security, and ensuring service continuity even during disruptions.
• Practical Use Cases: Detailed use cases demonstrate how to streamline Wi-Fi connectivity, enhance user engagement through landing pages, offer tiered service models, and maintain continuous connectivity throughout a journey.
• Industry Benefits: By adopting these strategies, the Wi-Fi industry can improve passenger experiences, reduce operational costs, increase revenue opportunities, and stay ahead of technological advancements.

The WBA invites industry stakeholders, including infrastructure providers, airlines, train and bus operators, and mobile device manufacturers, to participate in trials aimed at addressing these challenges and exploring next-generation Wi-Fi technologies.

Download the full report now to explore actionable insights and strategies to optimize connectivity in moving networks and drive business success.

For organizations eager to share relevant use cases and learning, we encourage you to reach out to the WBA Program Management Office (PMO) with this form. Be part of shaping the future of Wi-Fi.

WBA Access Network Metrics – Phase 1

The WBA Access Network Metrics Working Group is dedicated to crafting a framework that effectively communicates the Quality of Experience (QoE) of Wi-Fi access networks to stakeholders. This encompasses mobile operators using commercial cellular offload, participants in roaming consortiums like WBA OpenRoaming™, users of settlement-free Passpoint services, and enterprises that need reliable connections to third-party Wi-Fi networks.

This ‘Access Network Metrics’ report initiates the first phase, assessing the need for access network metrics and proposing methods essential for capturing data to evaluate networks, leveraging key indicators to quantify network performance.

The paper emphasizes the need for clear QoE evidence and identifies use cases that enhance the experience for both users and providers. It outlines crucial metrics and provides a roadmap for advancing this initiative with the necessary calculations and data communication methods. The report delves into standard Wi-Fi metrics and offers advice on how Wi-Fi devices can leverage detailed QoE metrics for smarter roaming choices, thus improving both user satisfaction and provider performance. It addresses the challenges present in current Wi-Fi networks, reaffirms the value of explicit QoE evidence, and demonstrates the advantages for users and providers. The research specifies essential metrics and introduces a framework for assessing and sharing Wi-Fi network quality, aiming to foster a more dependable and efficient Wi-Fi future.

The working group is now embarking on Phase 2, focusing on industry alignment regarding how applications become aware of network QoS. Notably, 3GPP has introduced a Network Exposure Function (NEF) that allows an application function to receive notifications about analytics related to user data congestion, network performance, QoS sustainability, and service experience. Phase 2 will explore the potential reuse and/or adaptation of 3GPP NEF-based approaches to support the Wi-Fi use cases identified.

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