Public Wi-Fi hotspot deployments reach 5.69 mn in 2014

Public Wi-Fi hotspot deployments have reached 5.69 million in 2014.

ABI Research predicts that the public Wi-Fi hotspot deployments – deployed by mobile and fixed-line carriers as well as third-party Wi-Fi service providers — will grow at a CAGR of 11.2 percent between 2015 and 2020.

The number of worldwide carrier Wi-Fi hotspots will reach 13.3 million in 2020.

Some telecoms are shifting their Wi-Fi strategy. For instance, Tomizone in the United States has shifted its business strategy away from the residential broadband Wi-Fi market to an enterprise-focus Wi-Fi solution service for transportation, retail, and accommodation.

According to Strategy Analytics’ AppOptix Telemetry Intelligence Platform, the total data traffic (Wi-Fi and Cellular combined) doubled between Q1 2014 and Q4 2014.

ABI Research said the cost of sales with low ROI on residential Wi-Fi has caused mobile operators to rethink their Wi-Fi public hotspot deployment strategies. Several operators, such as China Telecom and British Telecom, have either slowed down their deployments or chosen to enter partnerships with third-party operators such as Fon.

broadband user

Brazilian telecom operator Oi has doubled its Wi-Fi hotspots to nearly 1 million. ETECSA (Cuba), Togo Telecom, and Singtel (Singapore) are some of the carriers that launched public Wi-Fi access in 2014. With the introduction of a Wi-Fi and wireless data combo service package, customers can expect an automatic switch from mobile data transmission to Wi-Fi.

“The operators tend to see Wi-Fi hotspots as a method of offloading mobile data traffic, especially in crowded areas,” said Jake Saunders, VP and practice director of Core Forecasting at ABI Research.

Strategy Analytics Wireless Operator Strategies (WOS) service report says sponsored data provides a useful business model for bringing mobile data to new users in emerging markets and to new device types.

Sponsored data use cases gaining traction in emerging telecom markets such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria range from advertising, free access to online commerce apps, games and app stores, free access for banking apps, to support for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) by enterprises, education and healthcare.

Leading telecom operators evaluating or launching sponsored data include AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Millicom, Telefonica, Telenor, Telkomsel, TIM Brasil and Vodafone; Facebook’s Internet.org is looking to expand its partnerships with operators to create a free data on-ramp to the mobile Internet in emerging markets.

Baburajan K
[email protected]