09 May 2023

Event round-up: Open and disaggregated networks - What about Wi-Fi?

techUK was delighted to convene a new webinar event to explore the disruption potential of open and disaggregated Wi-Fi networks, and the benefits on offer to enterprise networks through Open Wi-Fi.

For the discussion, we were joined by Meta’s Jack Raynor, who co-chairs the Telecom Infra Project’s Open Converged Wireless Project Group. This Group has developed an open sourced, community-developed, disaggregated Wi-Fi software system, which includes a cloud controller SDK and an Enterprise-grade AP firmware. Jack provided an overview of the system and the many benefits and possibilities on offer.

Next, we heard from industry analyst Dean Bubley, on what Open Wi-Fi could mean specifically for the UK, and what the potential is for new innovator and a domestic Wi-Fi sector. Dean also shared his view on what use cases would most suit Open Wi-Fi deployments, and which may be slow to take-off. Dean has shared more on this topic following the webinar over on his LinkedIn page.

For our final presentation, we welcomed the vendor perspective thanks to Huw Rees, VP of Business Development at NetExperience – which has developed an Open Wi-Fi platform for connectivity providers. Huw shared more on the benefits of opening and disaggregated Wi-Fi architecture, and some of the software features that enhance NetExperience’s platform.

You can watch back the whole webinar recording below, including our panel discussion in which we explored Open Roaming, the developing market, and what Open Wi-Fi could mean for the UK’s telecoms innovation policy: