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Today the  Wi-Fi Alliance announced the release of their new certification for 802.11ac (draft 3.0).   Along with this announcement, nineteen certified devices from nine different companies have also debuted, including five phone models from Samsung.

From other sources, it's apparent that just as .11n required a better SNR than .11a, .11ac will require a 3 to 6 dB better signal than .11n.   That's about 9 dB better than 802.11g.   Perhaps more importantly, although small installations with single wireless routers will be possible, multi-AP networks will require a centrally controlled (read proprietary and expensive) infrastructure to enable roaming.

Currently TÜV Rheinland is the only test lab in the United States authorized to conduct WI-FI Aliiance Certifications testing for 802.11ac.  Other labs are investigating their commitment to the new standard.

More information is available on the  Wi-Fi.org website.

Does anyone have knowledge about companies or installations that are planning to upgrade their wired  infrastructure to support the multi-gigbit rates required to support 802.11ac ?