Trustive WLAN Roaming Research; aggregators at top of WLAN market, VoIP on the move

London (The Wireless Event) - 18 May 2006

Trustive, Europe's leading Hotspot aggregator, today released results of an extensive global research project into the WLAN marketplace.

Trustive's WLAN Roaming Research 2006 involved more than 100 Hotspot operators with more than 44,000 Hotspots in Europe, Asia and the U.S. The operators responded in April to a confidential online questionnaire on topics ranging from roaming and usage to technical standards. Trustive initially contacted 400 known Hotspot operators; the number of respondents is both statistically significant and representative - covering the range of the world's Hotspot operators of all sizes.

Major findings of the research included:

  • 80% of the operators have at least one roaming agreement with a Hotspot aggregator.
  • Almost 20% of the current revenue is coming from roaming.
  • The three most used hotspot aggregators were Trustive (45%), iPass (43%) and Boingo (40%).
  • Those same three aggregators also provided the most supported smart clients: iPass (45%) Boingo (33%) and Trustive (31%).
  • 36% of Hotspot operators believe Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will be the "killer application" at their Hotspots over the next 12 months.

"This is an exciting snapshot of WLAN roaming today," said Trustive Managing Director Gavin Dresselhuis. "The research shows that Hotspot aggregators have the momentum when it comes to roaming, and that new technology will shape the future."

Expressing the dynamism of the market, the operators predicted that the number of hotspots they operate would grow an average 38% in 2006 - to more than 61,000. The most common Hotspot locations are hotels (31%) and café/restaurants (29%).

When it comes to usage, the research found:

  • 72% of respondents average 10 or more sessions per day per Hotspot; 36% have 50 or more daily sessions per Hotspot.
  • The average session time among all Hotspot operators is 35 minutes.

On roaming standards, the respondents said that 78% of Hotspots would be WISPr compliant by the end of 2006, contrasted to 23% that will be compliant with IRAP.

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