More than 50 million homes in Europe, the US and Asia will have Wi-Fi access by 2007, according to research by BWCS.
At the end of 2003, there were around 80 million broadband households worldwide, compared to just 5 million Wi-Fi-enabled homes. Most networks are located in the US and the market leader will account for 25 million wireless connections or 52% of the world total in 2007.
BWCS emphasises that growth in the United States is being driven by the availability of cheap 802.11b technology and the spread of high-speed, fixed-line connections. A similar trend is evident in Far East markets such as Japan and South Korea.
The study claims that shipments of Wi-Fi access points will reach 11.2 millon in North America in 2007, compared to 8 million in Asia Pacific and 3.3 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Homes that already have a high-speed connection are seemingly most likely to want a wireless network. BWCS estimates that 23% of broadband homes will have WLAN access by 2007.
