Answer to Success of Wireless Hotspots

US : Public Wi-Fi hotspots continue to garner the attention of a wireless industry searching for answers and opportunities. There is tremendous momentum building, but this should not be mistaken for over-hype, as many players in the market are facing the reality of commercial deployments. Though there exist business models that are working, there continue to be areas that need improvement. Despite these concerns, research firm ABI predicts the revenue generated by this market has the potential to grow by as much as 121% CAAG over the next 5 years.

Some of the issues facing the hotspot industry range from interoperability between hotspot locations to the need for operators and aggregators to acquire more users. "In order for this industry to continue its growth, it has to more clearly communicate the technology's benefits to end-users, in order to generate wide scale adoption," explains Tim Shelton, ABI's Director of Wireless Research.

Selling Wi-Fi services combined with cellular and other operator offerings could help stimulate consumer interest in hotspots. Shelton continues, "There are some terrific opportunities for operators to start bundling services, offering consumers a more data intensive usage model, as well as a more compelling package of benefits and value."

ABI projects that worldwide hotspots will grow to over 160,000 locations by 2007, from approximately 28,000 in 2003. These numbers have a potential of being higher, depending on mainstream consumer adoption.

ABI's report, "Wi-Fi Public Hotspots: Business Case Analysis through Deployment and Subscriber Forecasts," investigates the market, looking at areas of growth and what pitfalls may lie ahead. As the industry continues its land grab for premium locations and partnership arrangements, much has to be hammered out in this incipient market. The study explores the business case models, subscriber trends, locations, and revenue projections for the global Wi-Fi hotspot market. Qualitative forecasts are provided for hotspot count, corresponding access points, subscribers, and revenue, from 2003 to 2008.

Research on hotspots is also available through ABI's Wi-Fi Subscription Service, which provides data on hotspot deployments, integrated circuits, network equipment, and other key market drivers. Emerging Wi-Fi opportunities and the technology's future co-existence with cellular technologies are also provided. ABI's Wireless Operators Subscription Service also covers hotspots and other operator offerings. The information service examines the approaches adopted by major global operators and offers deployment projections for WCDMA, CDMA2000, EDGE, MMS, and Wi-Fi technologies.