Although consumer awareness of hot spots is now relatively high, the market for these services has not progressed beyond the business travel community, according to a white paper from Parks Associates.
The research firm offers consumer perspectives on public Wi-Fi hot spots based on a recent survey which features in a new report,
Public Hot Spots: Moving Beyond Road Warriors. It found that some 90% of those interested in using hot-spot services travel nationally for professional purposes.
“Road warriors and business travellers are likely to be the early adopters of hot-spot services – the industry has that one right,” said Yuanzhe Cai, research analyst with Parks Associates. “However, the frequently quoted market inhibitors such as limited coverage and poor consumer awareness only tell part of the story. Service providers have to re-examine their value propositions and customer services. In addition, they should not overlook narrowband internet users.”
More than 60% of US internet households are aware of hot spots but only a small fraction have used the services (see US Consumers Still Cold On Hot Spots). There is also no indication that broadband users have less enthusiasm for the technology than their broadband counterparts.
“There are a lot of conjectures and estimates about consumer demand for hot-spot services,” Cai said. “Some of them make good sense, but some of them are purely myths. Our latest consumer research is designed to dispel some of the misunderstandings of the market.”
