Shrikant Shenwai, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, told Mobile World Live that next generation hotspots are experiencing a “silent revolution” as more operators agree that carrier Wi-Fi is the way forward.

“You see things happening but the pace is not always obvious,” he said when answering a question about convincing operators to join the alliance’s hotspot programme, which looks at how Wi-Fi can be “seamless, secure and interoperable”.

Shenwai believes the programme has covered significant ground and operators are willing and ready to deploy the technology.

When the programme launched last year, it had a dozen operators on board, and the number has now increased to around 36.

Earlier, operators may not have seen the opportunity of carrier Wi-Fi and hot spots, or seen them only as a way to offload network traffic, but this is not the case anymore, he said.

Though admittedly it may not be top priority for some, depending on their “market dynamics, assets on ground and where they are in terms of their 3G or 4G network deployment”, operators are by and large embracing it rather than seeing it as competition, said Shenwai.

This is partly because they realise users are mainly interested in getting access to data and “don’t necessarily care” where it is coming from, as long as they get the best possible connectivity.

As for the future, he believes Wi-Fi will play a dominant role in the mobile industry, especially when it comes to 5G.

To vie the full interview, click here.