Wi-Fi hotspots are continuing to grow greatly in 2008. According to
Research's WI-FI Hotspots Forecasts, by the end of this year global hotspots
will grow by 40% over 2007. The greatest growth and the largest number of
hotspots continue to be found in
has long led in European Wi-Fi hotspots, there is also marked growth in
Most remarkable about the hotspot market, says vice president and research
director Stan Schatt, are the dynamics of a fast-changing business model.
"Starbucks' decision to go to a virtually free Wi-Fi hotspot model is
having a profound impact. Hotspot owners are beginning to see Wi-Fi as a cost
of doing business and an operational expense, rather than as a profit
center." Schatt expects major retailers to move towards a free service
model in phases. "The first phase is likely to be a free or almost free
service for good customers, those who have signed up for loyalty cards."
One reason hotspot owners are willing to move towards such a business model,
according to Schatt, is the realization that, "Charging for service is
counter-productive in the long run because the real money will be in value-add
content downloads." In the near future hotspots are likely to encourage
users to pay to download the latest music and TV shows. Airport clubs are
likely to offer hotspot users the chance to download movies for their upcoming
trips. Starbucks has already begun selling music CDs in its stores. The next
logical step will be to move to selling music downloads.
The proliferation of devices that support Wi-Fi also makes charging for such
services more complex for hotspot owners. If a person is on a 3G connection on
a dual-band phone and then moves into a Wi-Fi hotspot, how does the Wi-Fi
billing take place? How many separate accounts must a customer who has both a
dual-band phone and a Wi-Fi enabled laptop have in order to use a Wi-Fi
network? Garnering money for downloads is a much more straightforward matter.
Wi-Fi Hotspot Forecasts
provides users with historical market data for Wi-Fi hotspots, and
forecasts yearly market data. This includes the number of Wi-Fi
hotspots by region and by venue type, the number of hotspot access
points shipped for, as well as subscribers and revenue data.