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ARCHIVE 2006
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Separating Truth from Myths in the Market for Public
Hot Spots
While consumer awareness of hot
spots has reached a fairly high mark, the market for these services has not
grown beyond today’s business travelers, according to
Public Hot Spots: One
Truth and Two Myths, a new white paper released by Parks Associates.
This white paper offers consumer perspectives on public
Wi-Fi hot spots, gathered from a recent consumer survey conducted by Parks
Associates and included in the new report
Public Hot
Spots: Moving beyond Road Warriors. The survey asked Internet
households about their usage history and interest in hot spots, as well as
their work-related travel habits, and found that 90 percent of the people
interested in using hot-spot services travel nationally for professional
purposes.
“Road warriors and business travelers are likely to be
the early adopters of hot-spot services—the industry has that one right,”
said Yuanzhe (Michael) 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.”
Among the white paper’s conclusions is a challenge to
the common industry ideal “build it and they will come.” Whereas more than
60 percent of U.S. Internet households are aware of hot spots, only a small
fraction have used the services. Also, broadband was not a differentiator in
terms of interest in hot spots. Broadband and narrowband Internet users
reported similar usage rates regarding hot-spot services, and the difference
between their levels of interest in adopting the services is not
overwhelmingly significant.
“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 about the market.”
Public Hot
Spots: Moving beyond Road Warriors examines the hot-spot value chain
and forecasts future market development. The report includes a thorough
examination of Wi-Fi® technology and hot-spot players and an analysis of
supply-side drivers and inhibitors, all the way down to primary consumer
data that pinpoints both the opportunities and challenges for this sector.
For more information on
Public Hot
Spots: Moving beyond Road Warriors, visit
www.parksassociates.com or contact Parks Associates at
sales@parksassociates.com or
call 972-490-1113. To download the white paper
Public Hot Spots: One
Truth and Two Myths, go to
www.parksassociates.com.
About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is an
internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing
in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks
Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to
small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research,
custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service
subscriptions.
The company's expertise includes new media, digital
entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services,
digital health, mobile applications and services, consumer electronics, and home
control systems and security.
Each year, Parks Associates hosts executive thought
leadership conferences CONNECTIONS™, in
partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®), and CONNECTIONS™ Europe. In addition, Parks
Associates produces the online publication Industry Insights in
conjunction with the CONNECTIONS™ Conference series.
http://www.parksassociates.com |
http://www.connectionsconference.com |
http://www.connectionseurope.com
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http://www.connectionsindustryinsights.com
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