Public Hotspots Increase for On-The-Go Users

According to the recently released JiWire Q4 2009 Mobile Audience Insights Report, looking at device use and consumer adoption of Wi-Fi and browsing behavior, the use of Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices in public hotspot locations continues to increase.

56% of respondents report they connect via their smartphone or other mobile device, and for 14% a mobile device is the primary means to connect to public Wi-Fi. This Insights report provides a snapshot of usage trends and audience data over public Wi-Fi for the fourth quarter of 2009, for the total number of locations at the end of the reporting period according to the JiWire hotspot registry of over 289,000 public Wi-Fi locations in 140 countries. JiWire projects a 15% increase in free Wi?Fi locations in the U.S. this year, which will bring free Wi-Fi to 52% of the total number of public Wi-Fi locations. The overall growth of public Wi?Fi locations since 2004 is 439%, with a worldwide quarter-over-quarter growth throughout 2009 of 21.9%, and a growth of 2.6% in the fourth quarter.