At the heart of every smart city there are cellular and Wi-Fi networks working together, as part of the wireless infrastructure, to provide real-time access to vital information and services. Whether it’s public safety, emergency response, traffic control, utility grids, waste management or person-to-person interactions, mobile and fixed devices using cellular and Wi-Fi are part of the picture.

Now, as metropolitan infrastructures begin migrating to the next generations of cellular and Wi-Fi, there will be new opportunities for these two technologies to work together. The result will be smart cities that can anticipate and automate, making urban areas smarter, more efficient and safer.

What’s on the Horizon

There are several reasons why it’s time to upgrade cellular and Wi-Fi. Many more people and devices are accessing the network than ever before, and those numbers are only going to go up. Video makes up a large part of the data we’re accessing. But even though more devices are online and sending more data at once, we cant afford to sacrifice performance. What’s more, there are some applications, especially in transport, healthcare, and manufacturing, that need to operate at or near real time.

5G, the fifth generation of cellular, with its support for massive MIMO and mmWave, is designed to support dramatically higher speed and capacity on cellular networks. We’re already seeing limited deployment in select cities worldwide, but a complete transition to 5G will certainly take time. The many specific technologies that make up 5G, for consumer and industrial use, are in various stages of development and will ramp up over the next several years.

In the meantime, while the 5G infrastructure becomes more widespread, the sixth generation of Wi-Fi, known as 802.11ax or simply Wi-Fi 6, will bring more speed, lower latency and increased device density support to its share of the wireless infrastructure. Wi-Fi 6 chipsets are already available and OEMs are moving quickly to adopt the new format. ABI Research predicts that, by 2024, 70 percent of smartphones will support Wi-Fi 6, along with 93 million desktops and portable PCs.

A Powerful Combination

5G and Wi-FI 6 both promise significantly better performance but in somewhat unique ways. 5G, with its support for a large number of users per cell is well suited for use in outdoor applications. Similarly, Wi-Fi 6’s ability to also support high bandwidth and high user density but at a dramatically lower cost makes it ideal for indoor applications, such as stadiums, convention centers, shopping malls, school campuses and other places where people gather.

But that’s not to say it’s a choice of one over the other when selecting a wireless format for new smart city applications. In many instances, the two technologies will work together, creating a powerful combination that services fixed and mobile use cases.

Security and Cost

In some cases, cellular and Wi-Fi address similar needs, making it less clear which technology is the better fit. In these cases, considering security and cost requirements can help in the decision. Cellular, for example, can prevent unauthorized access because the SIM card uniquely identifies each users and can enable the network provider to control the features, bandwidth, networks and capabilities subscribers are authorized to use. This can be extremely valuable in creating differentiated services that emphasize online security. On the other hand, Wi-Fi is often a much more cost-optimized solution with no required network operator and significantly lower cost per node. Wi-Fi 6 is also fully backward compatible with all previous generations of Wi-Fi lowering the upgrade costs and supporting a more metered transition for users. While some large-scale enterprises decide to go it alone and establish their own private cellular network, being able to run plug-and-play Wi-Fi routers, without a cellular subscription, can be an attractive way to provide new applications and capabilities at substantially lower deployment and operating cost.

Upping the Application Ante

Moving to 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will bring new use cases that build on previous collaborations of cellular and Wi-Fi. For example, cellular carriers are likely to use new Wi-Fi 6 access points to handle the offload of their 5G networks, in much the same way they rely on current Wi-Fi technology to offload 4G and LTE services today.

In public offices, apartment buildings and private residences, upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 can add motion detection to wireless security systems or deliver higher-resolution video for 4k/8k video experiences. In both cases, the 5G network is the likely resource for high-speed streaming of high-definition video to and from the cloud.

In transport, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 can work together to improve onboard infotainment, support software and firmware updates in dense deployments and simplify the collection of advanced telematics, including video.