The Wireless Broadband Alliance released its 2026 Industry Report, and the headline number, 62% of respondents report greater confidence in Wi-Fi investment than a year ago masks a more nuanced story about where the industry is actually placing its bets.
For those unfamiliar, the WBA is the global industry body dedicated to driving seamless Wi-Fi service experiences across the wireless ecosystem. Founded in 2003, its board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, Cisco, Comcast, Intel, and other major operators and vendors. When the WBA surveys the industry, it's polling the companies actually building and deploying this infrastructure.
Wi-Fi 7 Leads, But AI Networks Are the Sleeper
The deployment intentions tell us what's imminent versus what's aspirational. 37.5% plan Wi-Fi 7 rollouts in 2025/2026, making it the technology most likely to see deployment next year. Close behind, 32% plan to deploy AI/cognitive access networks, a figure that should get more attention than it's receiving. Network automation and optimization driven by machine learning isn't a distant concept anymore; nearly a third of the industry is actively planning for it.
The shipment data backs this up: Wi-Fi 7 enterprise AP shipments are projected to surge to 20.1 million in 2027, surpassing Wi-Fi 6 for the first time, and reach 38.8 million by 2030.
On features, Multi-Link Operation (MLO) was rated the single most important Wi-Fi 7 capability. This makes sense: MLO addresses latency and resilience in dense environments—exactly where enterprise deployments struggle most.
The 6 GHz Question Is Settled (For the Industry, At Least)
The 6 GHz adoption numbers are striking. Wi-Fi 6E deployment is already robust, with 47.4% of respondents reporting they've deployed the technology within their organizations. Looking forward, 24.6% consider 6 GHz spectrum availability "critical" to their Wi-Fi business, another 40% call it "important," and 21.8% say "somewhat important." That's 86% placing real weight on 6 GHz access.
The chipset data tells the same story: shipments of 6 GHz-enabled Wi-Fi chipsets increased from 213.8 million in 2022 to 684.2 million in 2024, with forecasts accelerating to 1.1 billion in 2025 and 2.6 billion by 2030. The industry has collectively decided 6 GHz is essential; whether regulators in all markets agree remains the variable.
Convergence, Not Competition
The Wi-Fi vs. 5G framing looks increasingly outdated. 60% of respondents said combining Wi-Fi and 5G would give their organization greater enterprise flexibility, with the same proportion expecting the technologies to co-exist rather than compete. For property owners and enterprise IT teams, this suggests planning for both rather than picking winners.
OpenRoaming Hits an Inflection Point
The OpenRoaming numbers signal a shift from pilot to production. 46% of respondents have already invested or plan to invest in OpenRoaming. The top drivers: seamless access between Wi-Fi and 5G/LTE, and seamless access across different networks.
Real-world deployments are accelerating. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government committed in September to expanding its OpenRoaming-compatible network to around 1,500 additional locations citywide, while the City of Westminster in London deployed OpenRoaming earlier in 2025 with plans for broader London expansion.
For managed service providers and property owners in multifamily and hospitality, this trajectory matters. Seamless authentication is moving from differentiator to table stakes—75.5% of respondents identified network security and privacy as the most important area for their business today, with end user experience (QoS/QoE) and seamless authentication ranking second and third.
OpenRoaming solves the technical problem of seamless connectivity, but its monetization model remains unclear. The framework theoretically enables roaming settlements between identity providers and access network providers similar to cellular roaming, but in practice, most deployments are funded as municipal amenities or carrier offload plays, not revenue-generating infrastructure. For MSPs and venue owners asking "how do I make money from this?", the answer is still unclear. Adoption is accelerating; the business case is lagging behind.
Where Traffic Growth Is Expected
Smart home IoT and AI were the most cited factors driving traffic growth. For verticals, stadiums/event venues and shopping malls/retail outlets were highlighted as seeing the greatest traffic increases.
Residential Wi-Fi CPE shipments are forecast to grow from 233.1 million in 2024 to 394.1 million in 2030, driven partly by 5G fixed wireless access and satellite expanding connectivity to underserved areas.
Monetization: Still the Achilles Heel
Issues with business models were identified by 49.5% of respondents as a top challenge when developing and deploying new wireless services. That was the highest of any challenge cited.
Nearly half the industry acknowledges that monetization remains unresolved, even as investment confidence climbs and deployment plans solidify. The technology roadmap is clear. The business model roadmap is not.
The report offers a hint at where operators see potential: offload and roaming were identified as the top two Wi-Fi monetization strategies over the next 12 months. This aligns with OpenRoaming's value proposition, but here's the uncomfortable truth: OpenRoaming's own monetization model remains a question mark. The technology solves the seamless connectivity problem elegantly. What it hasn't solved is how venue owners, access network providers, and identity providers actually make money from it at scale.
OpenRoaming theoretically enables roaming revenue models similar to cellular, with settlement frameworks between identity providers and access network providers. In practice, the economic incentives haven't aligned. Most OpenRoaming deployments today are funded as amenities or municipal services—Tokyo expanding for tourism and disaster resilience, Westminster for city connectivity—not as revenue-generating infrastructure. The carriers participating see offload value, but that's cost avoidance, not new revenue. For the venue owners and MSPs deploying the access points, the business case often comes down to "it's table stakes" rather than "here's the ROI."
When asked about top services for public Wi-Fi deployments, respondents cited supporting city services (70.3%), providing seamless and affordable internet access (64.9%), and carrier offload (48.7%). These are valid use cases, but none represent breakthrough revenue models for venue owners or ISPs.
The industry keeps building better networks while the monetization playbook remains stuck. Until that changes—until OpenRoaming or some other framework cracks the code on sustainable Wi-Fi revenue beyond basic access fees—investment confidence will remain somewhat disconnected from sustainable returns.
The Bottom Line
The WBA surveyed 185 industry participants—operators, vendors, and enterprise stakeholders. What emerges isn't revolutionary, but it is clarifying: Wi-Fi 7 deployment is real and accelerating fast, 6 GHz is non-negotiable for serious players, AI-driven network management is closer than many assume, and the convergence story has moved from conference rhetoric to deployment reality.
The 62% confidence figure is a sentiment indicator. The deployment plans and shipment forecasts tell you where capital is actually going. But with half the industry citing business model challenges as their top concern, confidence in the technology still isn't the same as confidence in the business case—and that distinction continues to define the industry's fundamental challenge.
Maravedis is the premier analyst firm focusing on managed connectivity in MDUs, hospitality, etc and the convergence of WiFi with 5G/6G.
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