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January 20, 2004

Wi-Fi is Bona Fide

By Nancy Gohring

Edge Consult says that Wi-Fi increasingly resembles a bona fide disruptive technology: This report actually has a handful of interesting tidbits about the development of the Wi-Fi market.

The researchers modeled five hotspots, three where service is available for a fee and two where service was free. They found that, on average, profits for the free hotspots were 533 percent higher than those that had paid services because of increased coffee and food sales. While these were just modeled scenarios, this may be the first actual study I’ve seen comparing profits of fee vs. free hotspots. That’s a significant case for offering free hotspots.

The study also showed that while the number of hotspots continues to increase, those hotspots are experiencing low usage. That doesn’t mean the market is about to die though. The researchers say they’ve seen a sense of realism entering the market such that operators are discovering that the market must be demand-driven, not supply-driven.

Unfortunately for the independent hotspot operator, the report concludes that cellular operators are the best positioned to run hotspots because it’s easy for them to own the customer relationship.

By 2007, Edge Consult predicts there will be 203,000 hotspots around the world.

Posted by nancyg at January 20, 2004 10:05 AM

Categories: Research

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Well, not here. But coming soon someday. The researchers modeled five [Wifi] hotspots, three where service is available for a fee and two where service was free. They found that, on average, profits for the free hotspots were 533... [Read More]

Tracked on January 20, 2004 11:45 AM

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