ABI: Municipal Wi-Fi Global Service Area Will Exceed 30,000 Square Miles by 2012
March 26, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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In 2004, there were only 520 square miles of networked municipal Wi-Fi. According to ABI Research, that number will increase sixty-fold over the next several years, to more than 30,000 square miles.
Today, the U.S. leads in municipal Wi-Fi deployments, analysts said, but Canada, Japan, South Korea and Western Europe are undergoing expansion of municipal Wi-Fi infrastructure and applications.
Varying levels of maturity and acceptance exist within this market, analysts said, which spreads across global regions and individual countries. Here are some key points culled from a recent ABI Research study:
- North America: Leads in deployments, but in many cases, the region employs the wrong business plan of free consumer access and free infrastructure. Consolidating incumbent service providers view municipal Wi-Fi as a competitive threat.
- Europe: Mobile-oriented rather than PC-oriented. Incumbents initially resisted municipal Wi-Fi, but now recognize in-building limitations and are incorporating it within service bundles for nomadic broadband Internet access, or as a way to compete out of region.
- Asia-Pacific: Status varies widely, but rapid uptake in advanced countries such as South Korea is resulting in innovative applications and the development of new end-user devices to leverage municipal Wi-Fi.
- Emerging regions: Equipment costs remain prohibitive. There is interest in the technology, but compared with more basic services such as electricity, funding is a challenge. These regions are likely to be late adopters.
According to Stan Schatt, ABI Research vice president and research director, there are key financial benefits that should be included within the municipal Wi-Fi business case.
"Wireless surveillance systems, for example, will provide financial returns by helping prevent possible terrorist attacks, decreasing overall crime, improving traffic flow and even boosting tourism by creating stable communities," he said.
Once technology, business and cost issues are resolved, analysts said nations will benefit from this simple and low-cost broadband Internet access technology, consequently broadening the range of the networked service.
Source: ABI Research.