Wireless Broadband Alliance to focus on the convergence of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G and improving Wi-Fi roaming
The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has appointed a new CEO: Tiago Rodrigues, who has been with the WBA since 2004. He takes over from former CEO and WBA founder Shrikant Shenwai.
JR Wilson, WBA chairman, said that the WBA “needed a leader with deep insight into the Wi-Fi industry, someone who could recognize Wi-Fi’s biggest opportunities and challenges and guide our membership in addressing them together. We also needed someone with the right blend of strategic thinking and technical knowledge. Tiago fit the bill. He has been involved with WBA for more than 15 years, as a member, project lead, workgroup chair, member of the board of directors and member of staff, and his contributions over that time have been outstanding.”
Under the new leadership, the WBA aims to strengthen its relationships with enterprises across various vertical markets and consumers.
Rodrigues also plans to focus on the convergence of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G as both technologies continue to rollout, which is something many of the leading service provides have expressed interest in, as convergence is expected to deliver better service to their subscribers in the most cost-effective manner.
Commenting on his intentions as CEO, Rodrigues said, “Wi-Fi is the most ubiquitous wireless technology in mankind’s history. It has become a fundamental part of daily life for people across the world. Yet there are still challenges ahead, which I would like the WBA to further address.”
Considered one of the pioneers of enabling Wi-Fi roaming, Rodrigues went on to urge the WBA to continue working on improving roaming, saying, “When I’m connected, my experience should be seamless and secure. To achieve that, the WBA has to continue to enhance the quality of experience on Wi-Fi roaming.”
In April, the WBA launched the first Wi-Fi 6-based industrial IoT trial in partnership with aerospace manufacturer, Mettis Aerospace. The trial enabled the use of augmented reality, real-time monitoring of equipment and a host of other applications in an enterprise network environment designed to digitize Mettis’ production line.
The WBA also recently published its Wi-Fi 6 deployment guidelines to help key vertical markets best address the Wi-Fi 6 opportunity as the global dependence on Wi-Fi continues to grow exponentially.
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