Tag Archives: Smart City

News, Telecoms

WBA OpenRoaming Enables Dublin’s Smart City Vision with Seamless, Secure, High-Performance Wi-Fi

Proof-of-Concept Trial Showcases How WBA OpenRoaming Provides Residents, Tourists and Businesses with Convenient Access to Municipal Services and More

London, UK, June 20th June 2022: The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and City of Dublin today announced a successful proof-of-concept trial of OpenRoaming™ in Dublin, Ireland. Initially deployed at Bernardo Square, Dame Street and the City Council’s Amphitheatre, WBA OpenRoaming enables residents and visitors to log in only once and then maintain seamless connectivity as their smartphones, tablets and other Wi-Fi devices automatically switch between different public Wi-Fi hotspots. The success of the trial will pave the way for a larger city-wide deployment.

Dublin is a high growth city. It currently has a population in the Greater Dublin Area of around 2.02 million and is anticipated to grow to 2.2 million by 2031. It houses 30% of the country’s working population and attracts over 6.6 million overseas visitors a year. It is anticipated that OpenRoaming will be initially rolled out on over 150 AP’s across Dublin city.

Now available at over 1 million hotspots worldwide, WBA OpenRoaming frees users from the need to constantly re-register or re-enter log-in credentials — all while maintaining enterprise-grade security and privacy. The WBA OpenRoaming standard also enables enterprises, device OEMs, service providers and others to provide performance guarantees and — with Wi-Fi 6 and 6E— a carrier-grade experience as users roam between different public Wi-Fi venues.

The trial, initiated by Dublin City Council’s Smart Dublin programme and supported by the WBA and Virgin Media, also involved participation from CommScope and represents a key a milestone toward achieving Dublin’s smart city goals, which include:

  • Providing communities, residents and businesses with seamless access to services online, as well as high-quality connectivity
  • Giving tourists and other visitors free, secure, high-performance Wi-Fi access. Once they arrive and log on to an OpenRoaming-enabled hotspot, their device is automatically authenticated for use every time it switches to another OpenRoaming-enabled hotspot. This convenience makes it easier for them to find what they need, such as restaurant recommendations, transit schedules, directions and more.
  • This seamless, secure experience ensures that they have the broadband connectivity they need for interactive immersive learning, research, hybrid study and more.

Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said: “Wi-Fi is the foundation for smart cities. This successful proof-of-concept trial shows that that the City of Dublin and its residents, businesses and visitors all can depend on the WBA OpenRoaming standard to ensure that they always have convenient access to seamless, secure, carrier-grade Wi-Fi connectivity.”

Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead, for the City of Dublin, said: “Dublin is at the forefront of a digital transformation that is serving as a model for other municipalities across Ireland and the world. Collaborations like this are key to the delivery of convenient, reliable and ubiquitous connectivity which is critical for achieving our smart city goals such as closing the digital divide and ensuring that government is responsive to the needs of citizens and businesses. This successful trial of WBA OpenRoaming is a milestone toward achieving all those goals.”

Bart Giordano, SVP Ruckus Networks, CommScope, said: “”As a founding partner in the OpenRoaming framework, we are pleased to announce with the WBA the successful launch of the OpenRoaming initiative and network for the City of Dublin. OpenRoaming brings the promise of seamless and secure connectivity to users and IoT devices all over the world. The core elements of OpenRoaming are in line with those of the Ruckus Network portfolio: cloud federation, cybersecurity, policy and automation. We look forward to expanding the City of Dublin’s network and capabilities and supporting OpenRoaming deployments worldwide. ”

Aidan Darcy, VP Business & Wholesale at Virgin Media Ireland said: “It’s fantastic to be working with Dublin City Council on such an important initiative. Given the fact that we are the official provider of both the Wi-Fi and broadband infrastructure, we are able to offer cutting-edge broadband speeds and an exceptional Wi-Fi experience for residents and tourists availing of the new Dublin City Wi-Fi Zones. We’re passionate about connecting communities and, with this new initiative, we really feel we’ll be creating connections for good.”

Launched in May 2020, WBA OpenRoaming is now in Release 3, 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.

World Wi-Fi Day – 20th June 2022

This announcement comes just before World Wi-Fi Day (an annual WBA initiative), a global platform to recognize and celebrate the significant role Wi-Fi is playing in getting cities and communities around the world connected.

It is a unique opportunity to reflect on how we can reduce digital poverty through innovative projects that will connect the unconnected.

News, Telecoms

Ontix Joins Small Cell Forum to Drive Indoor, Outdoor and Smart City Connectivity Initiatives

Pioneering neutral host specialist joins industry association developing technical and commercial enablers to accelerate small cell adoption and drive wide-scale densification

London, UK – Monday 13th June 2022 Ontix, the company delivering Next-Generation Wireless Infrastructure-as-a-Service, today announced that it has joined Small Cell Forum (SCF), the industry association developing the technical and commercial enablers to accelerate small cell adoption. Ontix will contribute by bringing its rich experience in 4G and 5G indoor and outdoor neutral host connectivity as well as a deep working knowledge of Smart City initiatives to the Forum’s activities.

Ontix is disrupting the business model for the delivery of connectivity wherever it is most needed. Its list of deployments includes the rollout of small cells across the heart of London working in partnership with MNO’s, MVNO’s and local authorities to combine a neutral host and backhaul/fronthaul network. The company has also been a leading advocate of and contributor to the Joint Operator Technical Specification (JOTS) for Neutral Host In-Building coverage solutions, supporting technical discussions with operators and OEMs to realise deployment-ready neutral host in-building solutions.

“The value in neutral host isn’t about the technology, it lies in moving beyond the theoretical and installing operational networks quickly, and cost effectively, in the places where they can provide the most value to operators, local governments and authorities, partners and end-users,” said Patrick Bradd, CEO at Ontix. “The route to dense 4G and 5G networks, indoors and out, runs through small cells, and SCF provides a platform to drive the ecosystem forward. We’re delighted to join and excited to start working with other members.”