• 60% see converged Wi-Fi and 5G as key to enterprise flexibility and that both will co-exist
• 38% plan to roll out Wi-Fi 7 in 2025/2026, while 65% say 6 GHz availability is important or critical to their Wi-Fi business
• 32% plan to deploy AI/Cognitive networks

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the global industry body dedicated to driving the seamless and interoperable service experience of Wi-Fi across the global wireless ecosystem, earlier in the month published the “WBA Industry Report 2026”, which contains the results of its annual industry survey across the Wi-Fi, cellular and enterprise ecosystem.

Among its chief findings is that 62% of respondents have grown more confident to invest in Wi-Fi over the last 12 months (18% are as confident).

Wi-Fi 7 is the technology most likely to be deployed in 2026, with 38% of respondents planning deployments.

Closely behind that is the impact of AI, with 32% planning to deploy AI/Cognitive networks, which can transform Wi-Fi networking, with an ability to improve the performance and reliability of networks.

The survey also details where respondents expect to see overall network and traffic growth. Smart Home IoT led the top three with 36%, followed by AI (33%) and Industrial/Manufacturing Applications & IoT (24%).

As to the verticals with the greatest level of traffic growth, stadiums/event venues was identified as highest with 41%.

The 2026 survey highlights a positive outlook for Wi-Fi, strong momentum behind Wi-Fi 7 and 6 GHz, and growing confidence in OpenRoaming as a foundation for seamless, secure connectivity across public, private and carrier networks. Together, the findings underline the importance of WBA’s core focus areas, including OpenRoaming, Wi-Fi 7, AI-enabled Wi-Fi, QoS/QoE, security and Wi-Fi/5G convergence.

Convergence matters more

When asked about the role of Wi-Fi in converged networks with both 5G and private enterprise implementations, responses reinforced the view that the technologies are complementary and together benefit organizations.

Six in ten (60%) said combining them would give their organization greater enterprise flexibility.

The same proportion expect Wi-Fi and 5G to co-exist, rather than be a binary choice for enterprise networks.

OpenRoaming momentum

The industry survey shows OpenRoaming transitioning into a period of mainstream planning with the need for seamless onboarding and roaming between Wi-Fi and cellular networks now seen as central business drivers. 38% of respondents say they had already deployed a OpenRoaming and/or Passpoint compliant network with a further 32% wishing to deploy in 2026, and 18% in 2027.

When asked what is driving investment in OpenRoaming/Passpoint, the top three reasons given were Enablement of frictionless Wi-Fi (63%), seamless access between Wi-Fi and 5G/LTE (60%) and seamless access across different networks (40%).

Each of these responses relates to network access, highlighting that this element is the most important factor for the industry.

Wi-Fi’s role in business continuity

Respondents also gave their views on the aspects of Wi-Fi they considered most important to their business at present, and what they expected to be the most important in the future. Network security and privacy was identified as the most important area for businesses today, with 76% of all responses.

Tied second position for the current most important aspect of Wi-Fi, both with 70% of responses, were end user experiences (Quality of Experience and Quality of Service), and seamless authentication to Wi-Fi.

Asked about the most important new or improved feature of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, respondents rated Multi-Link Operation (MLO) as the single most important at 46%, highlighting a sharp focus on latency, resilience and spectrum efficiency in dense environments.

This was followed in joint second place by OFDMA Uplink & Downlink, and Mandatory WPA3 compliance (both 33%). Multi-User MIMO Uplink took third position at 32%.

Additional key survey findings

• 6 GHz band availability seen as ‘important’ or ‘critical’ by 65% of respondents to the future of their Wi-Fi business and rollout, underscoring the centrality of 6 GHz to future Wi-Fi strategies
• City-wide public Wi-Fi deployed by 33% of relevant respondents, with a further 39% planning deployments for 2026/2027.
• The top three services organizations see Public Wi-Fi underpinning were supporting city services (70%), the provision of seamless, affordable, and secure internet access to users (65%), and to provide offload to carriers (49%).

City governments around the world, such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), are already utilizing OpenRoaming to deliver all these services

Tiago Rodrigues, president and CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said:

“This year’s WBA Industry Report survey makes it clear that the Wi-Fi community has moved to building the next generation of converged connectivity and the momentum is strong: Wi-Fi 7 and AI-driven networks, which can cut costs, while improving the operational efficiency, performance and reliability of networks, are at the top of deployment plans.

6 GHz is viewed as critical spectrum, and almost half of respondents are already deploying or planning OpenRoaming networks. Respondent’s priorities of security, privacy, Quality of Experience and seamless roaming between Wi-Fi and 5G are exactly where the WBA is focused through our programs of work. In a world where connectivity is business continuity, these findings show that Wi-Fi has become essential infrastructure for enterprises, operators and cities alike.”

The WBA Industry Survey 2026 collected input from 185 participants worldwide, with diverse job roles ranging from the C-suite and business strategy to those in research & development (R&D) and product management in a wide range of sectors.

The report is ready here.

The report offers best practice advice on developing a venue’s business case for public Wi-Fi, including how to improve user engagement with the use of OpenRoaming and Passpoint technology over legacy captive portal Wi-Fi.

User engagement is a critical element of public Wi-Fi provision. Venues need to understand the users who are connecting to their public Wi-Fi network, as they have a variety of needs ranging from regulatory compliance to commercial models that necessitate engagement.

Likewise, users need to be able to use and interact with the Wi-Fi and with the brand that is providing the Wi-Fi.

Unlike captive portals, once a device has been successfully onboarded to an OpenRoaming/Passpoint compliant network, the connection is more secure and future connections will be automatic, while still retaining the ability for venues and network owners to engage with users.

For venues and public Wi-Fi network owners looking to improve engagement with users, the report highlights best practice advice on establishing user needs, network requirements, processes flows, onboarding and device provisioning.

Drivers for aiming for better user engagement

The report underscores the critical need for industry stakeholders to prioritize user engagement in Wi-Fi network design and operation.

By understanding and addressing the requirements of both venues and users, businesses can enhance the overall user experience, reduce costs, and unlock new revenue opportunities.

The benefits for operators and venues that improve user engagement include:

• Cost Reduction & Cost Control: Implementing efficient onboarding processes and standardized interfaces can help reduce the costs associated with managing and maintaining Wi-Fi networks, especially for venues with high user traffic.
• Increased Revenue Opportunities: By offering seamless and engaging user experiences, venues can attract more users, leading to potential revenue streams through advertising, pay-as-you-go models, or partnerships with third parties and roaming services. For instance, the adoption of OpenRoaming facilitates continuous Wi-Fi connectivity in stores and retail environments, significantly enhancing the shopping experience. It allows customers to seamlessly connect without manual logins, paving the way for real-time promotions and communications that engage customers instantly, without the need for portal logins.
• Regulatory Compliance: Understanding and implementing best practices for user engagement can help industry players comply with regulatory requirements related to user privacy, data protection, and network security. For example, certain regulatory bodies and governments mandate that service providers require users to register for Wi-Fi access. This registration helps criminal investigations trace activities where needed. OpenRoaming streamlines this process by enabling automated login once a profile is downloaded.
• Competitive Advantage: Industry players that excel in user engagement and provide a seamless Wi-Fi experience can gain a competitive edge in the market, attracting more customers and partners.
• Wi-Fi roaming: Facilitated by the WBA’s OpenRoaming Federation, Wi-Fi roaming offers venues a valuable revenue stream and enhanced user experience. It simplifies Wi-Fi connectivity for users, ensuring secure network access and increasing customer satisfaction. Roaming can also be a form of user exchange, allowing seamless connectivity across partnerships, enriching and simplifying the user experience. GDPR guidelines are implemented in OpenRoaming, ensuring customer data privacy and security, which is crucial for maintaining trust and compliance.

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said:

“This report underscores the critical need for industry stakeholders to prioritize user engagement in Wi-Fi network design and operation. By understanding and addressing the requirements of both venues and users, businesses can enhance the overall user experience, reduce costs, and unlock new revenue opportunities.  WBA encourages industry players to consider the best practices identified in the report with different business models applicable to their public Wi-Fi deployment. Enhancing the user journey and user engagement in Wi-Fi networks can ultimately improve the overall user experience and drive business success.”

The report includes insights from industry experts from GlobalReach Technology, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Cityroam, Google, Marriott International, Single Digits, and other WBA members.

Thomas Locke, chief technology officer, GlobalReach Technology, said: 

“Due to the continued success of OpenRoaming and the wider market adoption of technologies like Passpoint, users are now increasingly connecting seamlessly and securely to public Wi-Fi networks. That being said, the desire for brands and users to interact in real-time on a proximity-based level has never been stronger. This report outlines the best practices for brands to offer an enhanced user experience through direct engagement via a secure Passpoint based public Wi-Fi network.”

Ben Roberts, Group Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, 

“Public Wi-Fi business cases are uniquely challenging in emerging markets, and success requires balancing the needs of the Wi-Fi users with those of the network owner. Technology changes all the time; one such example being the emergence of more devices that support Passpoint. These changes open up possibilities for network owners to consider new forms of user engagement. This report provides a reference for network owners and venues to understand the tools available to them to best achieve their business goals while optimizing the user experience.”

This milestone is the latest example of WBA OpenRoaming’s success in providing Wi-Fi users seamless and automatic network access, enterprise-grade security and – with Wi-Fi 6 & 6E- a carrier-grade Wi-Fi experience across multiple locations.

WBA also announced Release 3 of OpenRoaming, launched today, which will make the business and commercial aspects of roaming easier than ever before and importantly, cut back on hundreds of hours of legal and administrative time when establishing roaming settlement agreements.

OpenRoaming – 1m Global Hotspots

The 1 million OpenRoaming hotspots span a wide variety of venues, including airports, universities, stadiums/arenas, office buildings and municipalities. Examples include San Jose State University, Fira Barcelona Gran Via, Canary Wharf, London Stadium, Live Nation BottleRock Festival,  Brazil’s São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport and various European municipalities and tourist destinations enabled by Boingo, Cisco, CommScope, Extreme Networks  and other members of the federation. A recent proof of concept deployment by WBA member, Airties, to automatically onboard Wi-Fi client devices to a residential Wi-Fi 6 network also paves the way for the rollout of OpenRoaming across in-home Wi-Fi networks.

WBA OpenRoaming enables enterprises, device OEMs, service providers and others to offer business users and consumers automatic, secure, friction-free access to Wi-Fi. It offers flexibility to support a variety of biz models and quality of service suitable for their customers.

Launched in May 2020, the OpenRoaming platform was developed as a global solution based on a common set of standards to bridge the gap between cellular and Wi-Fi, offering users frictionless connectivity as users roam between guest Wi-Fi networks and public Wi-Fi hotspots, as well as from cellular to Wi-Fi.

OpenRoaming enables venues to get their patrons connected seamlessly and quickly. It removes hurdles to get users onboarded and increases opportunities for engagement.

The OpenRoaming standard frees users from the need to constantly re-register or re-enter log-in credentials and provides performance guarantees and quality of experience (QoE) capabilities as users roam between different public/private Wi-Fi realms.

OpenRoaming also helps enterprises ensure a gold standard of privacy and establish a high bar of security. It ensures a strong bar of security as a baseline. This is a major benefit for users and enterprises alike and an improvement from connecting via open and unsecure networks. In an era of hybrid work/play culture, secure Wi-Fi networks are paramount to combating the growing threat of hacks, scams and espionage. For example, all 24 Adventist Health hospital campuses now use OpenRoaming so staff and visitors can connect seamlessly and securely to the Wi-Fi network without additional training or needing to enter login credentials. This saves doctors and nurses valuable time and ensures that staff, patient and visitor data goes over a secure, private Wi-Fi connection.

OpenRoaming – Release 3

Release 3 includes a significant improvement on the legal and commercial framework providing the ability to implement a new templated approach, making commercial arrangements between federation members simpler and easy to scale. Dynamic settlement capabilities make it possible for rate variations to be varied at peak times.

In addition, Release 3 has been enhanced to include automated tools, reporting and API’s to significantly reduce the overhead for management and administration of an OpenRoaming network, while providing an online portal for federation members to self-serve.

Enhanced Identity Proofing has also been enabled so that identity providers are able to meet regulatory and legislative requirements as well as corporate and business needs.

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said: “In just 18 months, WBA OpenRoaming has already surpassed 1 million hotspots worldwide. That’s a major milestone — one that highlights how quickly the marketplace has recognized the benefits for network operators, infrastructure vendors, device OEMs and end users. It also reflects demand driven by the emergence of private 5G networks requiring simple roaming between cellular and Wi-Fi.

“But this milestone is just the beginning. We expect to see even more types of locations adopt WBA OpenRoaming, including hotels, cafés, trains, planes and connected cars. In fact, in our most recent cross-industry survey, 40% of businesses said they have implemented Passpoint/OpenRoaming or plan to do so before the end of this year. Wherever you work, live and play, OpenRoaming will be there.”

OpenRoaming has been adopted by most major Wi-Fi equipment vendors and device OEMs. Federation members include Adentro, Airties, Boingo, Broadcom, Cisco, Cityroam, Cloud4WI, Commscope, eduroam, Enea, Extreme Networks, GlobalReach, Intel, Kyrio Samsung, Single Digits, and many others amongst the growing eco-system.