A cross-industry survey conducted by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has found that 83 percent of respondents plan to deploy Wi-Fi 6/6E before the end of 2022.

The survey includes service providers, equipment manufacturers, and enterprises around the world and highlights the growing demand for WiFi 6.

“Service providers, equipment manufacturers and enterprises worldwide see more value than ever in WiFi,” commented Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the WBA.

6GHz spectrum helps to support more users and devices, including unlocking new use cases such as time-sensitive networking (TSN) for Industry 4.0 applications.

“Despite all of the uncertainty due to the pandemic, 56 percent of respondents said they were more confident about investing in WiFi than they were a year ago,” added Rodrigues.

“This confidence also shows up in the number of WBA members participating in various projects – an increase of 15 percent compared to 2020 — and the record 20 projects in development or already in progress.

“One example is their strong interest in the convergence of 5G and WiFi 6, including how mobile operators can leverage WiFi as part of their 5G strategy in terms of maximising coverage and capacity.”

41 countries have now authorised 6GHz for use and more than 338 million WiFi 6E devices are expected to enter the market this year. By 2022, the WBA expects almost 20 percent of all WiFi 6 shipments to support 6GHz.

The findings were released as part of the WBA Annual Industry Report 2022. The report includes updates on WiFi 7 which is projected to support up to 30Gbps throughput. WiFi 7-compatible devices are expected to make their debut in 2025.

You can find a copy of the full report here.

(Photo by Jadon Kelly on Unsplash)

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