NGH rollouts expected within a year – Wireless Broadband Alliance
The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has said it expects the first Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) deployments to take place over the next 12 months, following “successful” trials of the technology by operators including AT&T, BT, China Mobile, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, PCCW Mobile and TeliaSonera.
The operators, along with equioment vendors Accuris Networks, Aruba Networks, BelAir Networks, Cisco, and Ruckus Wireless tested the NGH requirements for network discovery and selection, security, automatic authentication in a production environment on, and between, different operators’ actual networks using equipment and devices from various vendors.
It also aimed to identify and recommend how best to implement automatic authentication and the measures needed to upgrade home networks to NGH. The trials also made the NGH service requirements, developed by the operator-led WBA, available to vendors who use the ‘HotSpot 2.0’ device standards from the vendor led Wi-Fi Alliance.
The Wireless Broadband Alliance said it will be organizing trials of more advanced technology features in second half of 2012.
The development of Next Generation Hotspots has come about to find the means to authenticate users onto hotspots operated by different users automaticallay and securely. This overcomes the issue of users knowing which hotspots they can access or how to connect and allows mobile operators, who increasingly have their own or partner hotspot networks, to ‘offload’ many more users. The new hotspot technology feature radio link encryption and SIM authentication.
Chris Bruce, Chair of the WBA said, “The complementary relationship between Wi-Fi and mobile networks is finally becoming a reality. Next Generation Hotspots allow smartphones and tablets to automatically roam from the cellular network on to Wi-Fi hotspots thereby augmenting the coverage and capacity of both. Fixed and mobile operators alike are leading a Wi-Fi hotspot renaissance in a renewed effort to sate the seemingly unquenchable desire for ubiquitous broadband connectivity. What has made this trial so unique is that the key players from both the mobile operator community and the Wi-Fi ecosystem have actively come together and supported each other for this industry-wide program.”
Full list of trial participants:
Operators:
AT&T, BT, China Mobile, DOCOMO InterTouch, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, PCCW Mobile, Portugal Telecom, Smart Communications, Swisscom, TeliaSonera & True Corp.
Mobile Devices:
LG, Intel
Network Equipment:
Accuris Networks, Aruba Networks, BelAir Networks, Cisco & Ruckus Wireless
Clearing Houses:
Aicent, BSG & TNS