SCOTTSDALE, USA: The hotspot market continues to experience strong growth in deployed venues and usage, driven largely by wireless and broadband providers embracing Wi-Fi both as a competitive differentiator and enhancement to core services, says In-Stat.
Despite the continued growth in hotspot deployments, the underlying business model has been in a continuous state of definition and development over the past decade, and remains a primary uncertainty in the future of the hotspot market.
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“We are a decade into the introduction of hotspot services and the market is still working out the revenue model,” says Amy Cravens, market analyst, In-Stat. “Initially the market was based on pay-as-you-go revenues, with providers hoping it would evolve into ongoing subscriptions and corporate accounts."
In-Stat’s consumer survey identified security concerns as the top barrier to hotspot usage. Other top concerns are service availability and costs.
"And while there has always been a free access component, branded hotspot venues like McDonald's and Starbucks, have made free access pervasive, which may lead to a public that is resistant to pay,” he adds.
Annual venue growth is expected to remain strong over the next several years, but will begin to slow in later forecast years.
Europe will account for 40 percent of worldwide venues in 2010. By 2012, handhelds are anticipated to account for half of hotspot connects.
Europe and North America are the largest hotspot markets based on usage (annual connects). On a per location basis, airport hotspot usage dwarfs all other venues with several thousand connects per month.
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