STL asserts the importance of the new Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 generations for telcos and policymakers and that they will contribute to the rapid development that is to come in the upcoming years. STL Partners is an organization that helps to bring positive and sustainable change to telcos and their partners by assisting them to innovate, grow, and stay ahead of the competition in the face of widespread and rapid technological change. Telcos and policymakers should broaden their vision towards “network diversity” rather than solely focusing on 5G.
5G is not enough for solving enterprises' connectivity problems on its own. It has important roles, especially in the Private 5G guise, but cannot replace Wi-Fi in the majority of situations. 5G & Wi-Fi will need to coexist. Wi-Fi will remain central to most businesses' on-site connectivity needs, especially indoors, for employees, guests, and IoT systems. Telcos should support Wi-Fi more fully. They need a full toolkit to drive relevance in the enterprise, not just a 5G hammer & pretend everything is a nail. CIOs and network purchasers know what they want - and it's not 5G hype or slice-wash.
Importance Of Wi-Fi Technology in a Business/Corporate Environment:
- Traditional use in offices, both for normal working areas and shared spaces such as meeting and conference rooms. There is often a guest access option.
- Working from home brings a wide range of new roles for Wi-Fi, especially where there is an intersection of corporate applications and security, with normal home and consumer demand. A growing range of solutions targets this type of converged situation.
- Public Wi-Fi hotspots overlap with various enterprise sectors, most notably in transport, cafes/restaurants, and hospitality sectors. Where organizations have large venues or multiple sites, such as chains of cafes or retail outlets, there is likely to be some wider enterprise proposition involved.
- The transport industry is a hugely important sector for enterprise Wi-Fi solutions. Vehicles themselves (buses, planes, trains, taxis) require connectivity for passengers, while transport hubs (airports, stations, etc.) have huge requirements for ease of access and performance for Wi-Fi.
Newer versions of Wi-Fi solve many of the oft-cited challenges of legacy systems and are often a better fit with existing IT and networks (and staff skills) than 5G, whether private or public. Deterministic latency, greater reliability, and higher density of devices make 6/6E/7 more suitable for many demanding industrial and cloud-centric applications, especially in countries where a 6 GHz spectrum is available. Like 5G, Wi-Fi is not a universal solution but has great potential.
Click here to learn more about Wi-Fi 6 on everything RF.
Click here to learn more about Wi-Fi 6E on everything RF.
Click here to learn more about Wi-Fi 7 on everything RF.
