Growing confidence to invest in Wi-Fi in 2024

When it comes to wireless technologies, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 will top the list of network operators, system providers and device and chipset suppliers by the end of 2024, ahead of CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service), DAS (Distributed Antenna System) and 4G/5G private networks.

According to a study by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), an organization that promotes cooperation between service providers and technology companies around commercial and technical issues and opportunities to improve the experiences provided by Wi-Fi, confidence to invest in Wi-Fi is growing – 58% of respondents said they are more confident about making investments in the technology compared to the previous year.

The business model remains the most relevant challenge for new deployments. Almost half of respondents (44.2%) highlighted the availability of 6 GHz spectrum as an important factor and more than a quarter (25.9%) put the issue as “relatively important”. Quality of Service (QoS) continues to be the main driver for Wi-Fi investments.

“With crowded airwaves currently limiting Wi-Fi’s potential, it’s no wonder that dozens of countries have already acted or are considering freeing up the 6 GHz band for unlicensed Wi-Fi use. Depending on country implementation, this will secure two to three times the spectrum currently available, resulting in viable 80 MHz and 160 MHz channels for the first time and making the Wi-Fi 6E standard ideal for supporting digital transformation efforts and use cases such as high-definition video and X Reality (XR),” explains the Wi-Fi Alliance‘s The Beacon blog.

Going one step further, more than 41% of respondents intend to deploy solutions based on Wi-Fi 7 by the end of 2024. Added to this group is the 7.5% who have already done so.

According to JR Wilson, chairman of the board of the WBA, one of the most critical developments in Wi-Fi technology that will expand business opportunities over the next decade is the convergence between Wi-Fi and private 5G networks. The convergence of the two technologies can guarantee more resilience for networks, allowing users to stay connected even in areas with poor coverage or signal interference. With convergence, it is possible to have an agnostic service layer and conditions that allow users or devices to access both Wi-Fi and 5G. A Deloitte study revealed that 98% of companies planned to use Wi-Fi and 5G in a connectivity mix.

Around 200 companies, government entities, fixed and mobile service operators, and suppliers in various parts of the world took part in the WBA survey. Respondents were asked how they see Wi-Fi technology evolving to anticipate the demands of consumers, business sectors, smart cities and service providers.

More about Wi-Fi

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, there are around 19.5 billion Wi-Fi devices in use today, with an estimated economic value of US$3.5 trillion. The Wi-Fi specification has evolved over the decades, gaining new versions with higher speeds and lower latency, providing better user experiences in different environments and device types.

The latest standard is Wi-Fi 6E, which operates in the 6 GHz band. It is an extension of the Wi-Fi 6 standard limited to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. IDC forecasts that the 6 GHz version will account for almost 20% of Wi-Fi 6 product shipments by 2025.

Future Wi-Fi 7 will add three main features: an increase in channel size from 160 MHz to 320 MHz, thus doubling throughput; 4K quadrature amplitude modulation, which translates into a 20% gain in peak performance; and multilink operations for dual-band aggregated spectrum. According to the WBA, it will provide more advanced experiences in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and maximum benefits in countries where the 6 GHz band is available.

With technological developments, it will be possible to use Wi-Fi in applications such as the Internet of Things, industrial automation, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, which require more bandwidth and lower levels of latency (less than 5 ms) and instability.