Wi-Fi hotspots on the rise substantially

The Wireless Broadband Alliance has informed that by 2015, there will be 5.8 million Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide. This is an increase of about 350% compared to the present. . If community hotspots, where Wi-Fi accesses are shared among different users, are also considered, there will be an additional 4.5 million hotspots. By 2014, the mobile data traffic may be as high as 17 million terabytes. This surge in usage will make many of the mobile networks to unload the data to Wi-Fi infrastructure. According to latest studies, about 58% network operators inclusive of 47% mobile carriers, wireless broadband access points are very important for the customers. The study disclosed that very soon the total volume of Wi-Fi hotspots will be more than the number of laptops globally. In the case of laptops, smartphones and tablets, the connections to wireless networks are 48%, 36% and 10% respectively. Chris Bruce of WBA, who is also the chief executive of ‘BT Openzone’, remarked that this is indicative of the fact that golden age of public Wi-Fi is in the offing and usage of hotspot is going to multiply. Wi-Fi supports busy mobile networks. The deployment of hotspot is going to mount heavily in the following months. Almost a year ago, BT established itself as the country’s topmost Wi-Fi provider. By then its network of hotspots had crossed two million.