According to the World Broadband Association (WBBA), Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize broadband infrastructure investment, boost profitability, and accelerate time-to-market, provided it is applied effectively in the pre-deployment phases of broadband rollout.
In one of four whitepapers released at the WBBA Broadband Development Congress (BDC) in Barcelona, the association highlighted AI’s current and future applications in the early stages of broadband network deployment. By leveraging AI-driven insights, operators can make smarter network planning and expansion decisions, ensuring infrastructure is rolled out at the right locations, with the right technologies, and under optimized Return on Investment (ROI) conditions.
“The pre-deployment phase in broadband is a period of decision-making and network planning before infrastructure is rolled out or upgraded,” said Director General of the WBBA, Martin Creaner. “It’s an ideal environment for AI to make an impact, and if the right data and algorithms support its models, then it can be used to help operators predict the return on their investments much more accurately.”
Another key announcement made at the WBBA is the ‘Gigacity Index 2025’, which ranks cities from 30 countries across the globe in terms of their broadband sophistication. With gigabit broadband services being pivotal to delivering next-generation internet services and establishing a premium business environment, the first edition of the Index assesses cities such as Singapore, Shanghai, New York, Madrid, and Zurich—ranking their broadband capabilities and highlighting the policies, investments, and advancements that have led them to become Gigacities. Metrics considered in the Gigacity Index include a city’s network infrastructure, such as FTTH coverage and 10G PON availability, as well as network connectivity and broadband experience.
Net5.5G was also a key consideration of the WBBA at BDC Barcelona. Having defined Net5.5G architecture in the ‘Network Evolution for the 5.5G and 6G Era’ whitepaper in June 2024, the WBBA has now published use cases from across five continents that demonstrate successful Net5.5G scenarios and functionalities from operators, carriers, and other key industry players.
This collection of use cases demonstrates how the Net5.5G architecture is already being deployed by many operators and stakeholders all over the world and reflects the sustainable evolution of data communication networks (DCNs) in an era when 5.5G and ubiquitous AI computing will become commonplace.
“Our Network Technology working group (WG4) continues to lead the way where Net5.5G is concerned,” continued Creaner. “Not only is this team sharing vision, roles, and requirements for Net5.5G, but is also developing an end-to-end blueprint for network evolution for the 5G Advanced and 6G era. We are excited by the potential of Net5.5G to help realize the promise of digital transformation in a fully connected intelligent world.”
Attendees at BDC Barcelona also saw the GSMA 5G Voice over Wi-Fi Task Force (which includes GSMA, WBBA, Wireless Broadband Alliance, and others) present a new report on VoWiFi – more commonly known as Wi-Fi Calling – which has been deployed by numerous operators worldwide in the last decade. Effectively integrating wireless and wired networks to realize seamless indoor and outdoor coverage, the concept is designed to provide users with ubiquitous, high-quality voice services.
The report considers the reasons why Wi-Fi Calling is needed for a variety of scenarios and services, providing use cases across a number of sectors and potential business models. The task force also considers the new requirements emerging for Wi-Fi Calling in the 5G era and the gaps that need to be addressed in order to facilitate further deployment and usage of the concept.
