Wireless Broadband Alliance

News Summary:

On September 16, 2026, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) released its Access Network Metrics Phase 3 Report, which detailed the transition of Access Network Metrics (ANM) from defined frameworks into real-world production-scale deployment and validation. A large-scale industry collaboration across the WBA membership deployed an ANM production proof-of-concept trial across more than 17,000 access points, supporting over 350,000 daily active users, providing evidence that Wi-Fi quality metrics can directly improve operational and roaming decisions. Previously, on September 8, 2026, Newcastle City Council and Purple established secure, seamless city-wide connectivity across hundreds of locations by deploying OpenRoaming®. This initiative, which has seen strong adoption and high repeat usage with expansion into public transport, demonstrates how OpenRoaming supports digital inclusion, smarter cities, and scalable urban connectivity. Earlier, on August 31, 2026, the WBA published the Enterprise Security for Private 5G Networks report, offering practical guidance for securing Wi-Fi and Private 5G as a unified enterprise network. The report explores how principles such as Zero Trust, unified identity and policy management, centralized security visibility, network segmentation, and AI/ML-driven analytics can help enterprises detect threats, strengthen resilience, and protect critical IT and operational technology environments.