[Rooftops] Wifi News

[Jim Youll]

1.
Wireless grows, but profits don't (from Wired.com)

The march to deploy Wi-Fi networks in all manner of locations is 
continuing at a rapid pace, even though it is doubtful that much money 
is being made from the service, a new survey concludes.

The study, published Monday by research firm In-Stat/MDR, counted 
40,000 wireless hotspots around the world in 2003, showing a rate of 
growth that surpassed analysts' expectations. This compares to just a 
few hundred in 2000. Researchers predict there will be around 180,000 
hotspots worldwide enabled with Wi-Fi, the popular protocol for 
delivering high-speed wireless Internet service, by 2007.

But despite the fact that Wi-Fi may now be found in coffee shops, 
bookstores, pubs, Laundromats, trains, gas stations, lakes and even 
entire California suburbs, the number of users is not impressive, says 
the survey's author, Amy Cravens.

Cravens interviewed a group of business users about their use of 
so-called visitor-based networks -- wired or wireless services open to 
casual users either for free or for a fee. While more than half of the 
users had used such a network, the majority had done so only 
infrequently, less than six times a year. The average spent was $12.10 
per month.

In-Stat/MDR's findings concur with those of other analysts. Earlier 
this month, Jupiter Research published a report finding that 70 percent 
of online consumers are aware that Wi-Fi is available in public places, 
but just 15 percent have used it at all, with only 6 percent having 
done so in a public space. Furthermore, only 1 percent have paid for 
the service directly, with an additional 3 percent having paid 
indirectly (for instance, as part of their hotel bill).

MORE...
FULL STORY:
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,61618,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2


2. T-Mobile and iPass sign roaming agreement
/www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1415865,00.asp
"T-Mobile USA and iPass have announced a distribution agreement that 
will let business users have access to T-Mobile's HotSpot network 
through iPass's virtual network. Many IT managers already cater to 
their users' roaming needs by giving them iPass software clients; users 
then access online services through a mixture of wireless and dial-up 
links. The new agreement with T-Mobile adds that company's HotSpot 
network to the mix, which T-Mobile claims is the largest network of 
wireless hotspots in North America."