Posted: 28th Nov, 2003 By: MarkJ
Despite many seeing public broadband wireless (Wi-Fi) hotspots as being a largely unproven market, by 2007 Western Europe is still expected to dominate with a global 38% share:
Analysts at The Radicati Group have forecast that the number of Wi-Fi hot spots worldwide is set to increase by over 600% to around 477,000 in 2007, from some 71,500 today. A significant chunk of these new hot spots will be created in Europe. Currently, North America is home to 46% of these Wi-Fi networks, compared to 34% for Western Europe, 19% for Asia/Pacific and just 1% for everywhere else.
By 2007, Western Europe will have clawed its way to 38% of the global market, ahead of North America with 34% and Asia/Pacific with 24%, leaving 4% for the rest of the world.
Many of today's hot spots are located at sites such as hotels, airports and cafes, as operators try to target businesspeople. As the overall Wi-Fi market grows, hot spots will pop up in a wider range of places. "New markets and vertical industries are constantly emerging as well, with trains, airplanes, hospitals, retail, manufacturing, public libraries, government buildings and even police and fire department vehicles becoming available with Wi-Fi access points," predicts The Radicati Group.Wi-Fi's future certainly looks better than its current standing, which sees a lot of unconnected networks charging ridiculous prices for an often unreliable connection quality. More @
ZDNet.