The report defines a unified security framework and guidelines that help enterprises integrate Private 5G into existing IT and Wi-Fi environments while protecting critical operations against evolving cyber threats.

It introduces a converged Zero-Trust model built on open standards and shared policies, enabling organizations to deliver secure, interoperable and resilient enterprise networks.

As digital transformation accelerates across manufacturing, healthcare, logistics and energy, organizations are turning to Private 5G to connect mission-critical systems, automate processes and enable new business models.

But digital transformation can also expand the attack surface, meaning potential greater exposure to cybersecurity risks, including data breaches, intellectual property theft and operational disruption.

The new WBA report provides practical guidance to help enterprises unify policies across wired and wireless domains, helping fuel innovation while safeguarding intellectual property and business continuity.

Positive impact across the connected ecosystem

The Enterprise Security for Private 5G Networks report defines a common language and framework for secure, converged wireless deployments, with new insights and benefits for each part of the connected ecosystem, including:

Enterprises: Gain a practical roadmap to deploy Private 5G and Wi-Fi securely within existing IT architectures. The framework helps reduce cyber risk while accelerating digital transformation and ensuring compliance with corporate security policies

Network operators and system integrators: Can deliver interoperable, standardized solutions that simplify enterprise adoption, shorten deployment cycles and open new service opportunities in sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare and logistics

Technology vendors: Benefit from a unified approach to security that supports cross-domain connectivity, promotes interoperability and accelerates innovation across the wireless ecosystem

Regulators and policymakers: Obtain valuable insight into the evolving governance, compliance and assurance needs that accompany the convergence of Wi-Fi and Private 5G in enterprise networks

An industry blueprint for success

To achieve seamless and secure connectivity, enterprises must unify security across all wireless domains. The report distils collaboration between global operators, vendors and enterprise security experts into a practical blueprint.

It provides clear guidance on how to integrate Private 5G securely into existing IT and Wi-Fi environments, apply Zero Trust principles and unify policies across wired and wireless domains, safeguarding intellectual property and their business operations.

Key insights covered in the report include:

• Unified security architecture: Private 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 are complementary technologies. When combined under a single Zero-Trust framework customers get the best of both worlds: ultra-reliable, secure, flexible connectivity precisely where it is needed most
• pxGrid integration: The pxGrid protocol provides secure, bi-directional data exchange between Wi-Fi, 5G and enterprise systems. This ensures consistent identity management, access control and threat intelligence sharing across a network
• Zero-Trust implementation: Continuous verification, micro-segmentation and dynamic policy enforcement minimize lateral movement and enhance defense across both wired and wireless domains
• AI and edge intelligence: Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) and AI-driven analytics strengthen security posture by enabling real-time anomaly detection, local decision-making, and automated threat response
• Open standards and interoperability: REST APIs, WebSocket and pxGrid are key enablers for cross-vendor compatibility, unified management and simplified deployment within complex enterprise ecosystems
• Immediate security priority: The report underscores that security must be foundational from the start of Private 5G adoption, not an afterthought, in order to safeguard mission-critical operations and maintain business continuity

Download the “Enterprise Security for Private 5G Networks” report here. 

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

“Private 5G represents the next frontier of enterprise connectivity, but with its potential comes new complexity and risk. By bringing Wi-Fi and 5G under a common security framework, the industry can accelerate digital transformation without compromising resilience or interoperability. This report sets out a clear path to secure, converged networks built on open standards, Zero Trust design and shared threat intelligence.”

Dr. Derek Peterson, CTO, Boingo Wireless and WBA chairman, added:

“As a leader in neutral host and private network deployments for airports, stadiums, hospitals, military bases and commercial properties, Boingo focuses on delivering secure, seamless connectivity experiences. Private 5G is creating new opportunities for enterprises and raises the bar for security. The WBA Enterprise Security for Private 5G Networks report offers timely guidance to design secure, scalable networks that protect critical operations and deliver the always-on connectivity customers expect in high-density environments.”

Gino Corleto, Project Leader & Industry Solutions Architect, Cisco, said:

“As enterprises accelerate digital transformation, integrating Private 5G into existing IT and Wi-Fi environments introduces both opportunity and complexity, particularly for security teams tasked with protecting critical operations. This report provides a clear, actionable framework to help organizations unify their security policies and apply Zero-Trust principles across diverse networks. By bridging the gap between Private 5G and established enterprise security practices, we’re enabling organizations to confidently adopt new technologies without sacrificing resilience or compliance.”

Peter Thornycroft, Chief Editor & Distinguished Engineer, HPE, added:

“Enterprises need confidence that Private 5G can be managed under the same security frameworks as their existing networks. By uniting best practices like segmentation, role-based access, and AI-driven monitoring, this report provides practical guidance for building secure, converged networks that support digital transformation”

• 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 paper explores how Wi-Fi’s latest features are ideal for meeting the unique, demanding requirements for a wide variety of existing and emerging IIoT applications.

This includes manufacturing/Industry 4.0 and logistics, involving autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated ground vehicles (AGVs), predictive maintenance and augmented/virtual/mixed reality (AR/VR/MR).

For example, manufacturers are increasingly using IIoT sensors for vibration, temperature and lubricant viscosity to catch emerging equipment problems before they result in extensive, expensive downtime.

Other IIoT sensors provide real-time insights about production output, inventory levels and asset locations. Wireless has become the preferred way to network these sensors because it’s faster and cheaper to deploy than copper or fiber. 

“As more equipment is monitored, wiring becomes prohibitive,” the paper says. “Industry is moving towards the inclusion of wireless technologies to lessen the cost of obtaining more information about their processes.

In one recent case in the oil and gas industry, moving to a wireless installation resulted in a 75% cost reduction in installation.”

Produced by the WBA’s Wi-Fi 6/6E for IIOT work group, led by Cisco, Deutsche Telekom and Intel the white paper provides an overview of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E capabilities that are ideal for sensors and other IIoT applications, such as: 

·       Scheduled access (SA) enabled by trigger-based (TB) uplink (UL) orthogonal frequency domain multiple access (OFDMA) in Wi-Fi 6 provides the ability to reduce or eliminate contention and bound latency (e.g. 99 percentile).

This leads to increased levels of determinism applicable to all real-time and IIOT applications.

· Wi-Fi 6 provides many deterministic QoS capabilities, such as the traffic prioritization that is a key component of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) for Industry 4.0 applications.

Another example is Multi-link operation (MLO), a capability that helps provide high reliability for applications that cannot tolerate any packet loss.

· The Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol specified in IEEE 802.11-2016 enables both time-synchronization but also precise indoor range and position/location determination.

This can be used for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) applications such as route planning, exception handling and safety-related aspects including collision avoidance based on proximity.

This capability does not require additional Wi-Fi infrastructure, so manufacturers can implement it immediately, for instance as part of their Industry 4.0 migration.

· The target-wake-time (TWT) feature added to Wi-Fi 6 provides more efficient power-save and scheduling enhancement.

This capability is a good fit for battery-powered IIoT nodes that need to transmit only infrequently, such as a sensor that uploads data only when a motor’s temperature exceeds a certain threshold.

· Wi-Fi 6E supports up to 1.2 GHz of spectrum, making it ideal for use cases that require both multi-Gb/s throughput and determinism, such as industrial AR/VR/MR and sensor fusion.

The 52-page report also includes RF/network deployment guidelines for factory, warehouse, logistics and other use cases. For example, it provides recommendations for leveraging 802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6 scheduling capabilities to optimize traffic patterns and manage critical QoS requirements.

Another example is using high-gain directional antennas to increase channel re-use rates and work around metal racks and other signal-attenuating features commonly found in warehouses.

Current Projects

Over three dozen vendors, service providers and other organizations participated in developing the white paper, which describes many of their current projects. Examples include: 

· Cisco, Intel and partners are working on use cases involving AMR and AGV, where key requirements include <10-20ms latency, <50km/h speed and .99.9999% reliability.

· Cisco and Mettis Aerospace are working on sensor applications, where requirements include very high reliability, low power consumption and high device density.

· Further work taking place on video-AMR fusion use cases such as collision avoidance, where technical requirements include <20ms latency and <1ms jitter.

· Cisco is working on safety control applications, which require <1-ms latency for applications such as automatically stopping a machine after a sensor detects that the person has left the operating position.

· Cisco, Mettis Aerospace and Intel are working on AR/VR applications with resolutions up to 80K and 90fps, where throughput requirements can be as high as 100 Mb/s.

· Cisco is working on automotive uses cases such as logistics in high-density storage lots, where <60dBm interference is key for reliable operation.

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said: “Wi-Fi has been a key enabler of the global IIOT market, which is on track to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 23% between 2017 and 2023.

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are expanding capabilties by providing the multi-Gb/s data rates, additional spectrum, deterministic performance and other advanced capabilities necessary to support demanding applications such as Industry 4.0.”

Matt MacPherson, CTO, Cisco Wireless, said: “The next industrial evolution will not only depend on the ability to connect more things, but to also add greater reliability, intelligence and security. This can only be done when the world’s leading companies work together with progressive Industry 4.0 customers to explore and implement new, game-changing technologies.

Cisco is proud of the work it has done with the WBA to ensure customers understand how, when and where to apply the latest innovations. It is because of advancements in wireless technology that Industrial IoT sits at the center of the forthcoming industrial revolution.”

Ahmed Hafez, VP of Network Convergence at Deutsche Telekom said: “Deutsche Telekom’s industrial partners are demanding ubiquitous high performance wireless connectivity to take their production processes to the next level. Converged Access combining 5G cellular and Wi-Fi6/6E Networks will play a vital role to deliver comprehensively on their application and process demands in the near future”.

Eric McLaughlin VP, Client Computing Group & GM, Wireless Solutions Group, Intel Corporation, said: “The industrial IoT market is experiencing a major transformation, and Wi-Fi is an essential ingredient enabling this transition. Applications like Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) and Remote Human Management Interface (HMI) industrial devices require the mobility, functional safety, high reliability, low latency, robust security and determinism that Wi-Fi 6/6E can deliver particularly when combined with TSN (time sensitive networking) solutions.

Intel is pleased to be leading this Wi-Fi technology evolution, and applauds the work that the WBA is doing in this space.”

“Wi-Fi 6/6E for Industrial IoT: Enabling Wi-Fi Determinism in an IOT World” is available now as a download here.