Wi-Fi growth in Europe to outstrip US

The US will be jostled off the top of the Wi-Fi heap within four years, researchers have predicted, as businesses and users in Western Europe and Asia rush to embrace high-speed wireless networking.

Analysts at The Radicati Group have forecast that the number of Wi-Fi hot spots worldwide is set to increase by over 600 per cent to around 477,000 in 2007, from some 71,500 today. A significant chunk of these new hot spots will be created in Europe. Currently, North America is home to 46 per cent of these Wi-Fi networks, compared to 34 per cent for Western Europe, 19 per cent for Asia/Pacific and just one per cent for everywhere else.

By 2007, Western Europe will have clawed its way to 38 per cent of the global market, ahead of North America with 34 per cent and Asia/Pacific with 24 per cent, leaving 4 per cent for the rest of the world.

Many of today's hot spots are located at sites such as hotels, airports and cafes, as operators try to target businesspeople. As the overall Wi-Fi market grows, hot spots will pop up in a wider range of places.

In the latest edition of The Messaging Technology Report the Radicati Group said: "New markets and vertical industries are constantly emerging as well, with trains, airplanes, hospitals, retail, manufacturing, public libraries, government buildings and even police and fire department vehicles becoming available with Wi-Fi access points."

Other analysts, though, are more downbeat about Wi-Fi's chances, with PA Consulting reportedly believing that the public access wireless LAN market is years away from profitability.

The Radicati report also identifies the most common reasons for using a Wi-Fi hot spot. Checking email is the number one reason for 27 per cent of those interviewed, followed by surfing the web (21 per cent), preparing documents or presentations (19 per cent) and scheduling (15 per cent).

Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK