The worldwide public Wi-Fi market had 84,283 hotspots at the end 2Q05 according to Wireless Broadband Analyst, published by Informa Telecoms & Media this month. WBA forecasts this will exceed 100,000 by end-2005. Much of the growth still concentrates on Asia Pacific which has expanded by 35 percent from 20,119 2Q04 to 27,171 2Q05. This is despite the maturing of the Asia Pacific market, which has seen its share of the global market decline by 39 percent in 2Q04 to only 32 percent in 2Q05.
Over the same period growth in other markets has increased, Western Europe takes the lead seeing its market share increase from 40 percent to 42 percent. North America also expands from 21 percent to 26 percent.
The fastest growing public Wi-Fi operator in Asia Pacific is Telstra which has 711 hotspots at the end of 2Q05, a growth of 110 percent from 339 at end 1Q05. Telstra�s expansion accounts for Australia becoming the fastest growing market in the region 2Q05, with 1,036 hotspots at the end of the quarter.
At the opposite end of the scale is Singapore which had 470 hotspots at the end 2Q05 down 1 percent from 475 at the end 1Q05, this decline follows on from 1Q05 when there were 508 hotspots as a result of contraction by top operator Singtel. The largest operator in the region remains Korea Telecom with 13,412 hotspots at the end of 2Q05, equivalent to 49 percent of the region�s total coverage and almost 16 percent of the total global market, making them the largest public Wi-Fi operator in the world. The second largest operator in the region remains Japan, whose top 4 operators account for almost 6,000 hotspots at the end Q205.
Over the same period growth in other markets has increased, Western Europe takes the lead seeing its market share increase from 40 percent to 42 percent. North America also expands from 21 percent to 26 percent.
The fastest growing public Wi-Fi operator in Asia Pacific is Telstra which has 711 hotspots at the end of 2Q05, a growth of 110 percent from 339 at end 1Q05. Telstra�s expansion accounts for Australia becoming the fastest growing market in the region 2Q05, with 1,036 hotspots at the end of the quarter.
At the opposite end of the scale is Singapore which had 470 hotspots at the end 2Q05 down 1 percent from 475 at the end 1Q05, this decline follows on from 1Q05 when there were 508 hotspots as a result of contraction by top operator Singtel. The largest operator in the region remains Korea Telecom with 13,412 hotspots at the end of 2Q05, equivalent to 49 percent of the region�s total coverage and almost 16 percent of the total global market, making them the largest public Wi-Fi operator in the world. The second largest operator in the region remains Japan, whose top 4 operators account for almost 6,000 hotspots at the end Q205.