| meijin 2003-05-19, 10:55 am |
| Hot Spots At Campgrounds, But Overall Market Faces Hurdles
MAY 14, 2003
Wi-Fi hot spot access is growing by leaps and bounds, but the analyst group
In-Stat/MDR warned today that the number of users has not climbed at the same
rate.
In-Stat, which shares the same parent company as Wireless Week, said the
number of connections per location and per day remains very low, creating a
challenge for Wi-Fi hot spot providers. This is especially true for cafes and retail
locations, senior analyst Amy Cravens said.
The research company said the number of hot spot venues has grown from
several hundred in 2000 to tens of thousands worldwide.
'Factors behind the low hot spot usage rate stem from a variety of factors
including lack of awareness, non-target venue deployment and incongruence
between existing pricing plans and consumer expectations,' Cravens said. 'While
providers have taken steps to address some of these challenges, such as
realigning pricing plans, there continue to be challenges ahead.'
Cravens said new wholesale providers such as Cometa Networks will reshape the
hot spot market in the months ahead.
One example of the explosion of hot spots was the announcement today by
Kampgrounds of America that it will offer Wi-Fi access at 100 of its 500
campgrounds by the end of the year. The rollout is in partnership with network
provider Hotspotzz.
'Our research shows that more than a quarter of our campers travel with their
computers, and many more than that want e-mail access while on the road,' said
Jim Rogers, KOA's president. |