The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) was formed in 2003 to enable a seamless and interoperable Wi-Fi experience across the global wireless ecosystem. The key objective of the alliance was to bring together multiple stakeholders – such as telecom providers, technology vendors and enterprises – to work on areas such as industry guidelines, pilot projects, standards to promote end-to-end services and drive adoption in Wi-Fi, 5G, IoT and others.

WBA OpenRoaming™

Ecosystm Principal Advisor, Ashok Kumar says, “Wi-Fi has gained increasing popularity worldwide over the last two decades and has now become an essential network technology with ubiquitous service that it is utilitarian. However, it has been viewed as a collection of islands of heterogenous networks, requiring re-authentication each time a mobile user transits from one network and re-connects with another Wi-Fi network, with the associated hurdles of logging back in, making it cumbersome.”

“The lack of interoperability between Wi-Fi networks has been a drawback for service providers, compared to the ease of use associated with global mobile networks, such as 4G, LTE, 5G, and so on, which offer seamless roaming connectivity.”

The WBA OpenRoaming™ initiative was announced last month, to create a globally available Wi-Fi ecosystem that offers a federation of automatic and secure connections for billions of devices to millions of Wi-Fi networks. It provides a new global standards-led approach, removing public-guest Wi-Fi connectivity barriers and brings greater convenience and security to the wireless ecosystem. WBA OpenRoaming™ removes the need to search for Wi-Fi networks, to repeatedly enter or create login credentials, or to constantly reconnect or re-register to public Wi-Fi networks.

Several leading technology companies and telecom service providers have extended support to WBA OpenRoaming™ standards – Samsung, Google, Cisco, Intel, Aptilo, AT&T, Boingo Wireless, Broadcom, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom and Orange to name a few.

“Wi-Fi is arguably the most ground-breaking wireless technology of our time. From the first public Wi-Fi hotspots in the early 2000s which enabled radically increased productivity on the move, through to the role Wi-Fi has in today’s pandemic environment. With WBA OpenRoaming™ we want to revolutionise how individual users as well as businesses engage with Wi-Fi, removing the need to repeatedly log in, re-connect, share passwords or re-register for Wi-Fi networks as we travel locally, nationally or internationally”, said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the WBA, “Instead, no matter where we are, the new framework automates how users connect to Wi-Fi while seamlessly aligning to cellular network connectivity. It does so by bringing together a federation of trusted identity providers so that individual users are allowed to automatically join any network managed by a federation member.”

WBA OpenRoaming™ can simplify Wi-Fi, much like the cellular roaming experience. Kumar says, “ The WBA OpenRoaming™, with support from major global service providers, network solution vendors, and authentication & security firms, has the potential to address the issue of seamless interoperability in the Wi-Fi networks ecosystem with ease-of-use and security.”

WBA OpenRoaming™ Framework

The framework and standards are based on cloud federation, consisting of a global database of networks and identities, dynamic discovery and the Wireless Roaming Intermediary Exchange (WRIX); cybersecurity consisting of Public Key Infrastructure a RadSec providing the certificate policy, management and brokerage services; and network automation facilitated by an automated roaming consortium framework and policy and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint®*.

The Impact of WBA OpenRoaming™

“Enterprises are expected to benefit enormously from the opportunity to create new commercial business models and innovative services with speed and simplicity,” says Kumar.

Maturing mobile technologies such as 5G and Wi-Fi 6 along with next generation wireless devices, could make OpenRoaming™ more seamless and extend its applications further.

Cisco in particular has been leading the charge with several pilots that showcase the benefits of OpenRoaming™. Earlier this year, it partnered with Oxbotica, an autonomous vehicle software provider, to demonstrate how OpenRoaming™ can unlock the potential of autonomous vehicle fleets, allowing a seamless and secure sharing of high-volume data while on the move.

Last year, Cisco also showcased the benefits of OpenRoaming™ in a pilot at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with Samsung as the identity provider. Attendees were connected to the network throughout the venue, with connectivity extended to even local train stations and the airport. This unified experience was possible despite the fact that at least three network providers were involved. Pilots such as these gives the industry a glimpse of what benefits lie ahead.

Kumar sees the impact being extended across industries. “The impact of WBA OpenRoaming™ will be in the introduction of innovative services for consumers and enterprise users in public Wi-Fi networks in industries such as Hospitality, Transportation (airport and rail), Retail outlets, Smart City solutions, and local community networks.”

Learn more about WBA OpenRoaming™, visit www.openroaming.org

*Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint® is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance