Network hosted by China Mobile and Cisco to allow attendees to participate in the full Next Generation Hotspot experience

Beijing – October 31th, 2013 – The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the industry association focused on driving the next generation Wi-Fi experience, today announced that it will launch a live Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) experience during its Wi-Fi Global Congress in Beijing this November (18th-21st). The NGH compliant network will allow 13 operators including; AT&T, Boingo, BT, China Mobile, Fon, KT, NTT DOCOMO Inc, Orange, SK Telecom, True, Time Warner Cable, Portugal Telecom and Towerstream to demonstrate the full range of NGH capabilities at the event. The WBA has collaborated with China Mobile as host operator along with Aicent as their main hub provider and Cisco as the Wi-Fi network infrastructure provider, to execute this first live public deployment of its kind.

The ‘end-to-end, real-life’ experience will feature live NGH-based Wi-Fi access for users and a number of different demonstrations. At the show, attendees can take advantage of:

  • A fully deployed NGH network, provided by Cisco
  • Passpoint certified devices from a number of manufacturers made available to demonstrate and deliver the full ‘end-to-end, real-life’ NGH experience
  • Seamless Wi-Fi roaming demonstration with a number of participating WBA member operators through our host operator China Mobile and their local roaming hub Aicent
  • Complete network access and backward compatibility including support for legacy devices
    As part of the NGH experience, the WBA will also be offering an ‘NGH Showcase’ which will feature NGH-capable devices, services and applications using the installed NGH network in the venue.

Interest in this technology has been fueled by the world’s largest operators and vendors recently completing a number of advanced NGH trials which led to the introduction of critical features such as seamless authentication, automatic network detection, adoption and secure access. This will ultimately give users easier access to a far greater number of public Wi-Fi access points around the world, without the need for usernames and passwords per venue.

“Providing a high-quality, seamless mobile broadband experience is one of the biggest considerations for operators the world over. We’re absolutely delighted that at Wi-Fi Global Congress Beijing, we will able to give many people their first chance to see how NGH is enabling this vision,” said Hui Deng, Principal Staff of China Mobile.

“A Next Generation Hotspot brings the Wi-Fi user experience on par with cellular in terms of seamless authentication and roaming. This demonstration, involving numerous service providers, represents a true industry milestone in the adoption of Hot Spot 2.0. Cisco is extremely proud to be enabling the world’s first live public deployment of the technology including end-to-end roaming based on WBA standards. We expect this deployment to help illustrate the benefits it offers to end users,” said Bob Friday, CTO, Enterprise Mobility, Cisco.

“After 18 months of successful technical trials encompassing the entire NGH ecosystem, including devices, network infrastructure and operator backends, we are now able to demonstrate that this technology is commercially ready to deliver a real life experienced to end-user. We wanted to provide an environment where end users can experience the benefits of the technology first hand. In cooperation with China Mobile, Cisco and Aicent, we are providing a robust network and delivering a completely seamless and ubiquitous Wi-Fi experience to end users at our Beijing event. Attendees will have the opportunity to try out the Passpoint-ready devices, use the network for live demonstrations and test the mettle of NGH to understand why the industry feels that this technology has so much potential,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO, Wireless Broadband Alliance.

Following substantial support from a large number of global Wi-Fi ecosystem players, NGH has now become a commercial reality and will ultimately give users easier access to a far greater number of public Wi-Fi access points around the world. The WBA will carry on its advanced trials of the technology and expects public NGH deployments to continue throughout 2013 and beyond.

For more information, please visit http://www.wifiglobalcongress.com

Press Contact:
Stephanie Ross
Temono for Wireless Broadband Alliance
+44 207 089 8896
wba@temono.com

About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Founded in 2003, the aim of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to secure an outstanding user experience through the global deployment of next generation Wi-Fi. In order to make this a reality, the WBA is currently championing various initiatives in the Wi-Fi ecosystem including Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) trials, Wi-Fi Roaming and its Interoperability Compliance Program (ICP). Today, membership includes major fixed operators such as BT, Comcast and Time Warner Cable; seven of the top 10 mobile operator groups (by revenue) and leading technology companies such as Cisco, Google and Intel. WBA member operators collectively serve more than 1 billion subscribers and operate more than 5 million hotspots globally. The WBA Board includes Arqiva, AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, China Mobile, Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, iPass, KT Corporation, NTT DOCOMO and Orange.

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