Study: There's a Wi-Fi Hotspot For Every 150 People In the World 63
mpicpp sends a BBC report on a study that found there are, on average, 150 people per Wi-Fi hotspot, worldwide. In the U.K. alone, there is one hotspot for every 11 people. The study estimates there will be roughly 47.7 million hotspots worldwide by the end of the year. France has the most, followed by the U.S., the U.K., and China. Future growth is expected to be high:
"Over the next four years, global hotspot numbers will grow to more than 340 million, the equivalent of one Wi-Fi hotspot for every 20 people on earth, the research finds. But this growth will not be evenly distributed. While in North America there will be one hotspot for every four people by 2018, in Africa it will be one for every 408. While Europe currently has the most dense wi-fi coverage, Asia will overtake it by 2018, according to the report."
Rule of Thumb (Score:4, Interesting)
Having traveled a lot in both rich and poor countries, I have come up with a general rule of thumb: the richer the country, the worse the Wifi access. It's always the poorest places that have completely open wifi absolutely everywhere.
Data is incomplete (Score:4, Interesting)
I tested the data for my own country (Netherlands). That website claims we only have 10 hotspots in trains, while all our intercity trains now have wifi. Also, municipalities should be having only 25 hotspots, while entire city centers have free public wifi now. It's a load of rubbish, this website.
I understand it is difficult to get the data... but if you equate the lack of data with "zero", then you make a mistake.