Qualcomm announced a new market for Wi-Fi routers, with Charter Communications and EE in the United Kingdom among the first clients. Based in San Diego, California Qualcomm is the world's largest provider of semiconductors that allow mobile phones to connect to cellular data networks, but the company has also long sold Wi-Fi chips for household Wi-Fi routers.

 

The company stated that it is entering a new market area by selling gateways, which are devices commonly given by broadband carriers that allow a physical fiber-optic line from a carrier to enter the home and be converted into a Wi-Fi signal. Both EE and Charter, which operates as Spectrum in the broadband market, have stated that they will begin using Qualcomm routers next year.

 

The new devices will use a new standard called Wi-Fi 7 that id designed to help data flow faster around homes where scores of devices from phones to smart televisions often use Wi-Fi. The new Qualcomm routers will also allow carriers to prioritize traffic from some specific apps and services such as streaming video platforms that have agreements with carriers for faster speeds, a practice that is not allowed in all jurisdictions, as per Reuters.

 

However, where it is lawful, the new Qualcomm routers will ensure that the speed boost does not vanish after the traffic leaves the carrier's fiber network and reaches the customer's home Wi-Fi.

 

"The operator is able to orchestrate a service as defined by the service level agreement with the app provider. And so for example, your Netflix traffic is not going to be compromised," Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager for connectivity, broadband and networking at Qualcomm.