INTERVIEW: Though much of the hype around 5G focuses on cellular deployments, Boingo Wireless CTO Derek Peterson (pictured) believes Wi-Fi will also play a significant role in delivering next generation services.

“Wi-Fi has a huge role to play in 5G because it’s yet another radio access network,” Peterson told Mobile World Live: “It’s more spectrum that we can take advantage of and bring data to the phone. And as we do slicing and other things, we’re going to end up being smarter at how we utilise the different band technologies and different spectrum that we have available to us.”

Of course, as a major player in the Wi-Fi space Boingo has a concerted interest in ensuring the technology has a bright future. Within the next year or two, Peterson said consumers will start to see initial deployments of 802.11ax Wi-Fi, the next generation standard which aims to enable speeds of 1Gb/s to 2Gb/s per device. By two to three years down the line, the replacement cycle will kick into full swing and the prevalence of 802.11ax will be more widespread, he said.

For more on the future of 802.11ax and the role Peterson believes unlicensed spectrum will play in 5G, click below for the full interview.

Interview: Boingo