Over the past several years, growth in the hotspot market has largely been driven by wireless and broadband providers embracing Wi-Fi as both a competitive differentiator, and an enhancement to core services.
According to the latest market study by In-Stat, their research forecasts that this trend will continue -- as usage will increase to nearly 120 billion connects in 2015.
“The hotspot market is in a continuous state of flux. Now over a decade old, the market is still undergoing significant changes in usage and business models,” says Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.
Wi-Fi hotspots have become a service used to attract demand for other product offerings, rather than just being a standalone offering.
Whether the primary product is broadband, mobile service, or a Starbuck's cup of coffee, Wi-Fi hotspot access is being used globally to attract new customers or retain existing ones.
In-Stat's latest market research findings include:
- Wi-Fi Hotspots will continue to be a key factor in mobile operators' data offload strategy.
- Worldwide hotpot venues will increase to over 1 million in 2013.
- While transportation and convention centers only account for a small percent of venues, they account for nearly 30 percent of total connects.
- Asia Pacific has emerged as the preeminent hotspot market, largely due to recent renewed investment in venue deployment.
- Notebook PCs continue to account for the majority of connects in the hotspot market; however, the rate of smartphone and tablet access is increasing rapidly.
