The Wireless Access Providers’ Association (WAPA) has partnered with the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) to establish a cross-industry working group aimed at facilitating communication and collaboration around open access carrier-grade WiFi networks.
Recent predictions from industry analysts point towards 2014 being a breakthrough year for WiFi in South Africa, as some of the larger telecommunications providers move towards providing connectivity via WiFi or mobile data “offload” in public areas, such as transport hubs and shopping centres.
“WAPA has long highlighted the importance of WiFi to our members and the industry, and we are pleased to announce the formation of this partnership with WBA – the unquestioned worldwide expert in guidelines for high-quality WiFi networks,” says WAPA chairperson Mohammad Patel.
WAPA and the WBA share similar aims in that both organisations are dedicated to growing the wireless industry through the dissemination of information around best practices.
According to Ton Brand, senior director Marketing and Industry Development for WBA, “The similarity of objectives between WBA and WAPA is very prominent. We look forward to engaging with the telecoms industry in South Africa through this partnership and working together to drive the adoption of next generation WiFi in this region that will ultimately secure a seamless WiFi user experience for end-users.”
A series of free webinars to be conducted over the next six months will run through the concepts for setting up WiFi networks in line with industry best practices. These are open to the public to raise awareness, however participation in the WAPA-led working group requires WAPA membership.
Topics covered will be as follows:
* Interoperability 101 – defining “WiFi roaming” and “WiFi offload”, and Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)/Hotspot 2.0;
* Carrier WiFi – its building blocks and roadmap; best practices around open access; and
* WiFi roaming – WBA roaming framework and understanding WRIX.
The first Webinar will take place at 10am SAST on Tuesday, 28 January. Any interested parties are requested to contact WAPA for more details by e-mailing info@wapa.org.za.
“Designing and installing a WiFi network that is reliable, interoperable and able to handle the demands placed on it for value-adds such as location-based services requires a nuanced understanding of the capabilities of hardware and software, as well as industry standards,” says WAPA deputy chair and WiFi champion Ellie Hagopian.
