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September 21, 2007 (CIO) --
CIOs and other mobile businesspeople are driving the use of Wi-Fi hot spots across the world to new highs, and the airports and hotels they pass through on their travels are the places where they connect most often, according to a recent report.
As the market is flooded with more and more Wi-Fi-enabled devices -- including "dual-mode" cellular/Wi-Fi BlackBerries and Nokia mobile phones -- mobile workers and others will continue to expand their usage of the wireless technology.
The Wi-Fi Hotspot Index, compiled by iPass Inc., a provider of enterprise mobility systems, is based on data collected during the first half of 2007 from more than 1 million Wi-Fi users employed by the company's 3,500 customer organizations. IPass collected data on Wi-Fi use at some 80,000 hot spots in 78 countries, tracking time spent connected, location of connection, and the top venues in which Wi-Fi connections are made, as well as the specific airports that see the most Wi-Fi use.
Overall, Wi-Fi hot spot usage by business users between January and June of 2007 rose 68% over the last six months of 2006, and hot spot use during the first half of 2007 skyrocketed 141% in comparison to the first half 2006, according to iPass.
The countries that saw the largest boosts in hot spot use include Australia, which saw an increase of more than 780% since June 2006, and Germany, where hot spot use increased 379% during the period.
"The results indicate that business demand for Wi-Fi hot spots has grown from a novelty to a mainstream need," said Joel Wachtler, vice president of marketing and strategy at iPass, in a press release. "We are also seeing that use of hot spots is a global phenomenon, with the standard for growth being set in European and Asian countries."
The regions of the world in which Wi-Fi hot spots are used most frequently are North America (56% of the total worldwide usage), Europe (36%), and the Asia-Pacific (6%), according to the report.
Not surprisingly, the United States is leading in terms of hot spot use, again making up 56% of the worldwide total, followed by the United Kingdom (13%), Germany (7%), Switzerland (4%) and the Netherlands (3%).
Regardless of the fact that North America and the United States are the leading region and country, London is the city with the highest level of hot spot use by businesspeople, with four times as many Wi-Fi "sessions" (or times people connect to networks) than New York and Chicago, the No. 2 and No. 3 cities, respectively.
The average time business users spent connected to Wi-Fi networks also increased significantly. Average daily Wi-Fi usage jumped 25% to 89 minutes in the first half of 2007, compared to 70 minutes in the second half of 2006.
IPass plans to continue tracking its customers' Wi-Fi usage nd update its hot spot index every six months.
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