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Public WiFi Hotspots Surpass 50 Million Globally, US to Overtake France in 3 Years - iPass

Public WiFi Hotspots Surpass 50 Million Globally, US to Overtake France in 3 Years - iPass

iPass, a commercial Wi-Fi network operator, Tuesday announced that the total Public WiFi hotspots have surpassed 50 million globally, increasing by 80% since 2013. The number of hotspots are expected to grow rapidly and to hit 340 million by 2018. iPass projects the number of WiFi hotspots to increase from 1 Wi-Fi hotspot for every 150 people today to 1 Wi-Fi hotspot for every twenty people on earth by 2018.

The global WiFi provider tracks the hotspots via its Wi-Fi Growth Map, a dynamic real-time assessment of the rapid growth in global Wi-Fi. iPass has recently enhanced the Wi-Fi Growth Map with the new Wi-Fi Leaderboard, a scorecard that ranks countries based on the number of hotspots they have overall, as well where they stand in terms of Wi-Fi availability in categories such as in-flight and hotels. 

According to iPass, the leaderboard shows that France with over 13 million hotspots holds the top spot although the United States is quickly gaining ground with more than 9.8 million at present, followed by United Kingdom, at 5.6 million. US is expected to have more than 32 million total hotspots by the end of 2015 and hence, take over as the country with most hotspots. United States' growth is attributable to the rise in community hotspots where broadband operators are converting residential customers to community hotspot providers at the rate of about 1 per second, said iPass

Evan Kaplan, president and CEO of iPass
With the exponential growth in Wi-Fi and the fact that consumers show a strong preference for it, Wi-Fi is emerging as a truly global, roamable network. An array of businesses see the benefits of providing Wi-Fi and are making investments in building out Wi-Fi infrastructure. Every household can be a part of the public Wi-Fi fabric, which is what makes Wi-Fi such a powerful and valuable network. Any business and any residence can now provide access, making Wi-Fi the easiest way to expand access globally.

Image by Patrice Semeria, via Wikimedia Commons

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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