Wifi Revolution

Business use of iPass (News - Alert) Wi-Fi hotspots increased by 46 percent from the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2008, while European business use of Wi-Fi topped North America for the first time.

 

These statistics came from the latest edition of the iPass Mobile Broadband Index, which tracks the wireless use patterns of mobile workers around the world. iPass, Inc. is a global provider of services that unify the management of enterprise mobility.

 

It also states that users of 2.5G and 3G mobile broadband technologies in the United States increased their data traffic in the second quarter of the year by 59 percent between 2007 and 2008. Other findings include rapid growth of Wi-Fi in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, and the emergence of hotels, restaurants, train stations and public places as high-growth venues.

 

“The results of the latest Mobile Broadband Index indicate that business people worldwide continue to do more work away from the office, whether they’re on a business trip, commuting, or checking email at a nearby café or restaurant,” said Joel Wachtler, vice-president of marketing and strategy, iPass. “We see both Wi-Fi hotspots and 3G mobile broadband playing an important role in keeping the workforce productive, and iPass expects WiMAX (News - Alert) and other 4G technologies to continue this trend towards a ubiquitously connected multi-technology world.”

 

For the first time, European business use of Wi-Fi hotspots eclipsed North America in the first half of 2008. Europe grew its use 89 percent year-over-year and now accounts for 47 percent of global use, up from 36 percent in 1H 2007. Nearly 70 percent of the growth in global Wi-Fi came from Europe and seven of the top 10 countries in the world are there.

 

North America grew 17 percent year-over-year and now accounts for 45 percent of usage, down from 56 percent the year before, while Asia Pacific grew by 54 percent to hold steady at 6 percent of worldwide share. Latin America and the remaining world regions grew at 98 percent and 76 percent respectively but only accounts for 1 percent of usage.

 

London remains the top city for business users of Wi-Fi, although high growth in Singapore and Tokyo cut into its lead. Chicago replaced New York as the top U.S. city and was fifth in the world.

 

Inter-city travel venues remain the most popular, accounting for nearly three quarters of sessions globally, with airports on top with 40 percent. Hotels grew by 66 percent and now account for more than 34 percent.

 

As demonstrated in earlier indexes, hotel sessions were much longer than the average, at 167 minutes per session, followed by about an hour for cafes, restaurants and other retail locations, and only 40 minutes for airports.

 

Commuter transit locations, such as train stations and ferries, demonstrated extremely strong growth of 79 percent year on year, as Wi-Fi expands into these well-frequented venues around the world. For locally mobile workers, the most dramatic growth came in hotspots located in public venues such as business parks, payphones and city centers.

 

The data indicates that 3G network coverage in the U.S. has continued to mature. In Q1 2007, only 35 percent of users were able to rely solely on 3G throughout a given month with the remainder forced to fall back on slower 2.5G technology occasionally. By Q2 2008, the number of 3G-only users had risen to 53 percent.

 

The iPass Mobile Broadband Index lists H1 2008 statistics for global Wi-Fi hotspot and usage of 2.5G and 3G mobile broadband in the U.S. The index summarizes internal data collected by iPass and is intended to represent usage behavior across its base of more than 3,500 enterprise customers, including more than 400 of the Forbes Global 2000. The full study is available at www.ipass.com/mobileindex.

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