The number of free public Wi-Fi hotspots is increasing rapidly worldwide, according to research by the company iPass, which shows that today there is one such hotspot per 150 people on Earth, while by 2018, the ratio will have dropped to one hotspot per 20 people.
Europe is leading the global growth in wireless access points, currently accounting for about half of the world's total, but by 2018, Asia will have overtaken the "old continent." By the end of 2014, there are expected to be 47.7 million such public wireless access points on our planet, which will exceed 340 million within the next four years.
France, according to the BBC, is the world's "champion" for free Wi-Fi, with the most hotspots of any country, followed by the US and Britain. But by 2018, China is expected to take the lead, leaving France in second place. China already has five times as many commercial (not public) Wi-Fi hotspots as any other country.
According to the research, Wi-Fi will be available on 60% of planes and 11% of trains by 2018, compared to 16% and 3% respectively today.
In addition to this expansion in transportation, the international trend is gradually expanding public wireless access points from city centers to suburbs and communities. Many such access points are already located in homes, as part of the trend to extend free wireless Internet access by private users to their neighborhoods.
The research also points out that even in the field of commercial Wi-Fi, significant changes are taking place, as today, more than 50% of commercial Wi-Fi points are not controlled by telecommunications companies. Also, while a few years ago there were only a few Wi-Fi providers, today there are now millions, as the development of the relevant infrastructure is easier and subject to fewer regulatory regulations. More and more restaurants, bars, hotels and all kinds of shops and businesses are getting on the somewhat chaotic Wi-Fi “train”.
However, this growth will be uneven, as, while in 2018 it is expected that in the US there will be one such access point for every four people, in Africa it will be one for every 408.
Analysts also predict that big players, such as Google, Facebook and Apple, will at some point want to "stick their noses" as providers in the expanding field of Wi-Fi.
Source: imerisia.gr
