Wireless census report 2020

This report presents the findings of the 2020 wireless census, a survey which gathered data on our members’ and customers’ experiences of, and requirements for, wireless technology.

We received responses from 100 individual organisations, predominantly HE and FE institutions, and so these findings provide a ‘snapshot’ of wireless networking in UK higher and further education.

Our report indicates trends in wireless resourcing and infrastructure, revealing some pressing needs and suggesting emerging areas of focus. These findings can help your organisation benchmark against your sector as a whole.

Summary of key findings:

• The perceived importance of on-site wireless provision remains very high despite the changes wrought by the pandemic, and this is further reflected by resilient staffing levels despite financial pressures.
• Flexible working is a key trend for respondents, who mention the shift to online delivery of teaching and learning, as well as the increased use of mobile devices and BYOD. This has implications for wireless implementations, including cyber security and device management.
• There is no clearly defined career track for wireless experts - there are few dedicated roles and this specialism is typically combined with network management more broadly. However, this does not seem to imply a shift to outsourced WLANs.
• 5G usage remains low - with most projects still in the experimental test-bed stage. It remains to be seen if there is a real use case for this technology in education.
• Few organisations have a Spectrum Management policy in place, despite the challenges posed by rapidly growing usage and the risk of interference between services.