WLAN's a Hit -- Privately

STOCKHOLM -- Wireless LAN (WLAN) is a clear success in homes and offices around the world with a substantial increase in WLAN equipment sales last year. Convincing users to do in public, what they now are doing in the privacy of their homes and offices, is however something completely different. In a new report leading wireless advisor Northstream studies the opportunities and obstacles for public WLAN businesses. The global WLAN equipment market grew around 70% last year with revenues reaching $2.1 billions. An increasing fraction of companies in North America, Asia and Europe are using it as an integral part of their office IT infrastructure. There is however an important difference between the success of WLAN in offices and homes compared to the business opportunities presented by public WLAN in cafés, airports, hotels and other hotspots. "The size and value of the target market, the mobile corporate users, is uncertain and the instability of the market structure indicates a high probability for low profitability," says Tommy Ljunggren, senior advisor at Northstream. "The main reasons for this are the unknown demand by the target users in combination with immature usability of the service."Public WLAN usage requires dedication, knowledge of where you have coverage as well as an available device. The user must: find a suitable seating at the hotspot, boot the device, edit the network settings in some instances and finally (in most cases) purchase the temporary credentials that enable access. This process is too cumbersome in most usage-locations to be worth the effort. This means that public WLAN can take off where business people stay for longer periods; in hotels, conference centres and transportation hubs. It has less chance in cafés and most other “public places”."In our studies for different operators we have found that, despite the obstacles and uncertainties, public WLAN services has a potential strategic value especially for Mobile Network Operators," says Tommy Ljunggren:

Northstream