Europe Grows WiFi Faster Than North America

Insight Research's analysis of the WiFi industry, "WiFi in North America and Europe: Telecommunications' Future 2003-2008", suggests that wireless LAN technology - increasingly popping up in public spaces such as airports and cafés, in private residences, and in businesses - will grow faster in Europe than North America.

'Some analysts believe that broadband access is driving the adoption of WiFi, while others contend that WiFi is driving broadband,' says Robert Rosenberg, Insight Research President. 'Our analysis suggests that they drive each other in a complementary way, creating greater demand for broadband services across the board.

As the popularity of wireless access to the Internet grows, expert groups are speeding up efforts to create standards that allow WiFi network users to have access to multiple networks just as voice wireless customers can have their phonecalls go through over multiple networks. But Insight's research suggests that WiFi growth will not come at the expense of 2.5G, 3G, or private wireless networks, nor will it come at the expense of xDSL, cable modems, or other forms of wired broadband access. WiFi's impact on telecommunications revenue, rather, will be multiplicative; creating bigger broadband networking opportunities for all participants.

It also points to a number of factors that are likely to drive European adoption of WiFi at a faster rate than North American growth over the forecast period:
* Office PC adoption in Europe lags behind North American rates, suggesting fewer WiFi upgrades and more new units shipped with WiFi capability.
* Given Europe's older stock of commercial buildings, WiFi becomes an attractive way to upgrade for networking without the expense associated with inside wiring.
* Europe has an established highly mobile communication-oriented population thanks to the success of global system for mobile communications (GSM).
* Europe's café culture and ubiquitous mass transit systems lend themselves to public hotspots.
* A concentrated population in a relatively small geographic area improves the economics of a hotspot business model.

The report in passing draws attention to the intriguing hobby of "War driving": travelling through neighbourhoods using laptop software to find and classify WiFi hotspots. More seriously, the company project worldwide WiFi revenues are expected to grow from $7 billion in 2003 to over $44 billion by 2008.

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