WiFi hotspots set to treble

It has been claimed that the number of WiFi hotspots across the UK could actually treble over the next few years as a result of soaring demand.

A recent report has claimed that the number of WiFi hotspots across the UK could actually treble over the next few years as a result of soaring demand for these services. According to reports the mounting interest in WiFi has come as a result of fresh interest in community WiFi projects as well as from growing demand from iPhone users.

Owen Geddes from the WiFi company Freerunner said that at present there are around ten thousand WiFi hotspots across the UK, but he said that with demand growing at its current pace this could soar to around thirty thousand WiFi hotspots by around 2012. At present Freerunner operates around twelve hundred hotspots, but is planning to reach around ten thousand in the next two years by adding a further four hundred per month.

Many people that have smart phones such as the Apple iPhone use their devices to access broadband and download whilst out and about. They are now being discouraged from using 3G if possible because of the risk posed to the networks and are being encouraged to use WiFi hotspots wherever available. This has resulted in increased demand for WiFi from smart phone users.

Figures have also shown that there was a global increase in WiFi usage over the course of 2009, with WiFi usage increasing by forty seven percent on a global basis last year. One industry official stated: “The iPhone launch made a big difference. Before that, hotspots were pretty empty. All of a sudden there was an enormous surge in use.”

Source – FT