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Wireless
June 13, 2003
Challenges continue to trouble hotspot market
UNITED STATES -- While the landscape of the hotspot
market has changed in terms of number and type of venue,
and the universe of providers addressing this market
include some of the top fixed-line and mobile operators,
there continues to be challenges in the hotspot model,
according to In-Stat/MDR.
The
market research firm found that increasing hotspot usage
was the principle challenge to the model, to date. While
the number of hotspot venues increased from several
hundred to tens of thousands worldwide in the past three
years, usage has not grown at similar rates with connects
per location, per day remaining very low, especially
in the café and retail venues.
Factors
behind the low hotspot usage rate stem from a variety
of factors including lack of awareness, non-target venue
deployment, and in congruence between existing pricing
plans and consumer expectations. While providers have
taken steps to address some of these challenges, such
as re-aligning pricing plans, there continue to be challenges
ahead. Awareness of these challenges is resulting in
a very cautious approach by some potential new entrants.
Many
of the fixed-line and mobile operators continue to explore
the market, with some launching trial offerings. Yet,
they remain hesitant to commit to a full-scale deployment.
Further, perspectives on how WLAN will integrate with
2.5/3G services also vary widely, with some providers
fully embracing WLAN and others still remaining very
skeptical and defensive. However, with a concentrated
approach to venue deployment and appropriate strategies
to incorporate hotspot access into corporate level remote
connectivity capabilities, the hotspot market, and those
players involved, will thrive.
In-Stat/MDR
also found that:
- While
new players are hesitantly testing the waters, a new
wave of hotspot deployments, the wholesale model,
is emerging to again reshape the hotspot market. Initiatives,
such as Cometa in North America, and the Cloud in
the UK, anticipate massive hotspot rollouts that promise
to dwarf the existing provider footprint.
- While
there are a variety of potential challenges for the
hotspot market that continue to lurk on the horizon,
there are numerous encouraging developments as well.
Increased familiarity with, and use of, WLAN, availability
of WLAN enabled laptops, and discussion and standardization
forums will all help promote use of hotspots. The
worldwide, for-fee hotspot market will grow from 12,235
locations worldwide in 2002 to 145,417 locations worldwide
in 2007.
- Despite
the concern over the sustainability of cafe venues,
these continue to account for the vast majority of
hotspot deployments, followed by hotels.
Contact:
In-Stat/MDR
Web: www.instat.com
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