HFCL aims to become one of the top five players in the global Wi-Fi access points market by 2026

Indian telecommunications equipment manufacturer HFCL aims to enter the top five players in the global Wi-Fi access points (AP) market within the next three years, driven by the demand for Wi-Fi access points to support high-capacity and low-latency applications in homes and businesses.

"Our goal is to be among the top five Wi-Fi players in the world within the next three years. We are realizing this vision both in terms of accessibility and innovation," said Jitendra Singh Chaudhary, Executive President of Communications at HFCL, in an interview with ETTelecom.

HFCL is competing with global Wi-Fi players such as Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus Networks, CommScope, and Cambium. "All of them are representatives of Western countries. We also see some Indian players catching up with us," he said.

HFCL holds 20-25% of the Indian market for external Wi-Fi access points and 30% for unlicensed radio communication (UBR) "point-to-point" radio links.

Currently, HFCL supplies its Wi-Fi products to more than 35 customers in India, including major telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs). It supplies products to Reliance Jio, Sify, and other internet providers through distributor partners and system integrators (SIs).

Chaudhary mentioned that while the fifth-generation radio waves or 5G, operating at frequencies of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz, provide very high capacity, they have issues with indoor coverage. "Wi-Fi 7 will become one of the solutions for indoor coverage, especially in enterprises, or for high-performance applications such as virtual reality, education, in places with many concurrent users, or when you need a lot of power," he said.

In collaboration with Californian chip manufacturer Qualcomm, HFCL launched a lineup of Wi-Fi 7 access points last year based on IEEE 802.11be technology. It will be available for sale from the second quarter of the 24th financial year.

In terms of the industry as a whole, HFCL believes that the demand for Wi-Fi equipment is driven by the need for greater capacity combined with low latency, as well as a growing trend towards automation.

The company's head dismissed concerns that the proliferation of 5G would pose any threats to Wi-Fi technology. "Wi-Fi will remain, and its numbers will significantly increase in indoor use cases. I see a potential opportunity to transfer 5G mobile data to Wi-Fi. Otherwise, providing coverage in limited areas even outdoors, Wi-Fi will play a decisive role," he said.

The head stated that HFCL actively supports equipment disaggregation for Wi-Fi to reduce the total cost of ownership. "Disaggregation will be an important task, whether it's Wi-Fi, 5G, or transport. To truly be in demand, it may take two or three years."

Disaggregation is the process of separating different components of the Wi-Fi system, such as access points and network controllers, and providing independent control over them.

In April of this year, HFCL became the first Indian company to integrate the OpenRoaming Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) service into its Wi-Fi product portfolio.

WBA is a member of the Telecom Infra Project's (TIP) Open Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) group.

Original article link:
HFCL aims to become one of top five Wi-Fi AP players globally by 2026, ET Telecom (indiatimes.com)