The traditional separation between Wi-Fi and cellular networks — a cornerstone of enterprise wireless planning — is facing fundamental challenges according to a new 6G vision statement released this week by the World Broadband Association,
“It is important that the 6G era brings together cellular, Wi-Fi, and non-terrestrial access in a more seamless fashion, to create a ‘network of networks,'” said Maria Cuevas Ramirez, network infrastructure research director at BT and a board director of the Wireless Broadband Alliance in a statement.
The three drivers for the convergence are cost pressures, user experience, and demands from key vertical markets.
“Over 50% of global data traffic uses Wi-Fi and it will continue to play a strategic role in the 6G era,” says Tiago Rodrigues, president and CEO at the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
Wi-Fi is cost effective and efficient, he says, especially for indoor coverage, and can complement cellular by reducing both capital and operational spending.
“Wi-Fi will also drive advancements in key areas such as AI-enabled network management, seamless identity management and access steering,” he says.
Low latency drivers
The biggest impact of 6G will be healthcare, industrial automation, and smart cities, he adds.
These are also industries where convergence with Wi-Fi will be particularly useful.
“These verticals demand reliable, low-latency connectivity and seamless transitions between networks across wide areas,” he says. “For example, smart city infrastructure can benefit from 6G-enabled convergence for traffic management and public safety, while healthcare applications will rely on 6G for mission-critical communication and remote diagnostics.”
However, the convergence between cellular and Wi-Fi is not likely to happen soon, such as in the next five years, says Swarun Kumar, professor at Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University.
“I view the vision of completely seamless Wi-Fi and cellular as something not in the cards in the near term,” he says. “Enabling such seamless integration would require new standards — governed by different bodies, hardware advances, and changes to network infrastructure — all of which happen over long time scales.”
What’s more realistic in the short term is more limited types of integration like those that we’re already seeing, he adds, such as with Wi-Fi-based calling or SIM-based authentication for Wi-Fi.
Security challenges
Integrating Wi-Fi and cellular may also create some network security challenges, Kumar says.
“Consider for example, the cellular network providing a gateway for malicious users to access into a private and otherwise secure Wi-Fi network,” he says. “Or perhaps, the other way around.”
To prepare for this convergence, enterprises should ensure that the correct policies and guardrails are in place, he says, as is the case for integration of diverse networks of any kind.
In its vision document, the WBA recommends that companies adopt a scalable approach to identity management and policy control to streamline convergence and enable cross-network service delivery.
“Users simply shouldn’t have to worry about logging in to individual Wi-Fi — or cellular or other technology — terminals and effectively switching between networks,” says Kumar. “This should all happen in the background without users having to actively be involved.”
However, this isn’t something that enterprises can accomplish on their own, he adds. “It would need tight coordination between cellular operators and enterprise Wi-Fi network managers alike.”
And even broader levels of collaboration will be required to take convergence even further, to satellites or IoT devices, says WBA’s Rodrigues.
“Collaboration is the cornerstone of our vision for 6G,” he says.
According to a statement this past August by the Information Technology Industry Council, the first commercial 6G services are expected around 2030, with pre-commercial trials expected in 2028.