Europe jumps on Wi-Fi bandwagon

Europe is jumping enthusiastically onto the Wi-Fi bandwagon, according to new research suggesting that the deployment of European wireless hotspots jumped by 28 per cent between May 2005 and September 2006.

The research by BroadGroup Tariff Services noted that the majority of hotspots are located in the UK, Germany and France, and that the UK leads with 39 per cent of all the hotspots located in Europe.

Almost two-thirds of all hotspots deployed in Europe are controlled by telcos and mobile operators.

The report suggests that, although prices have remained stable in an increasingly mature market, a number of access packages have been introduced.

Twenty-four hour pricing remains the most widely used time band at 21 per cent across Europe and is offered by half of all providers.

Another key development is that, although the public Wi-Fi market in Europe is still predominately prepaid, the incidence of one-month subscriptions is on the increase, and now represents just under 20 per cent of market offerings.

The purchase of Wi-Fi services via SMS has also increased with blocks of five minutes being the smallest unit.

"We have seen more innovation in Wi-Fi product marketing," said Margrit Sessions, managing director at BroadGroup Tariff Services.

"Operators are using bundling more effectively, and have extended the validity period from one-time log-in to multiple log-ins over different periods ranging from 24 hours to one year."