The Wi-Fi Alliance announced at an industry seminar held in Shanghai that the Shanghai-based TA Technology has become its newest Authorized Test Laboratory, marking the birth of the alliance's thirteenth Wi-Fi test lab around the world.

TA Technology, which is the second Wi-Fi Alliance ATL in mainland China, will provide independent testing services to the worldwide roster of member companies of the Wi-Fi Alliance. China's first authorized ATL was given to the Communication Measurement Center of the Ministry of the Information Industry, which has since been renamed the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2005.

Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, says that the development of Wi-Fi in China is very fast. For example, there are over 3,000 hotspots in Shanghai and the number is expected to increase to 25,000 in the next several years, according to ChinaPulse.com which has a database of these zones. After the launch of China's first wireless city plan in Jiading, Shanghai on December 28, 2007, the project has covered more districts of Shanghai, including Yangpu, Jing'an, and the Pudong New Area. At the same time, other Chinese cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Dalian, Chengdu and Hong Kong also announced similar plans. So far, there are about 10,000 hotspots across the whole country and by 2012, the number will reach 38,000.

Henry Liu, deputy general manager of TA Technology, says the Wi-Fi market continues to expand worldwide and this new facility is committed to providing the rigorous, exacting certification testing services that have become the hallmark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.