WiFi losing appeal in SA

2007-11-20 17:34

Chimwemwe Mwanza

Johannesburg - Commercial WiFi hotspots are fast losing their appeal at least among corporate workers, a new research study revealed on Tuesday.

By contrast, the use of 3G-wirelss broadband provided by local mobile networks is on the rise. According to mobility 2007, the latest edition of research group World Wide Worx's (WWW) annual study of mobile technology just released, the corporate segment's use of WiFi -networks that allow wireless access to the internet - has fallen back after a steady rise in the previous three years.

Another factor that's put a damper on uptake of WiFi is the promise of WiMax - a high-speed long distance broadband technology, which is being piloted by a number of service providers in South Africa.

"As many as 8% of corporations say they are trying WiMax, which exactly matches the proportion that is dropping WiFi," said Arthur Goldstuck, WWW's executive director and author of the report.

Unless WiFi hotspot operators revised their pricing, Goldstuck warns that WiFi hotspots in hotels are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market.

"It only takes one or two episodes of paying R30 for 30 minutes access at a hotspot to realise that a 3G subscription costing less than R100/month makes far more sense.

"Thanks to mobile technology, paid WiFi hotel rooms are going the same way as phone calls from hotels: their exorbitant pricing can't compete at all," said Goldstuck.

However, among small and medium enterprises (SME)'s, the picture looks slightly brighter, with WiFi deployment rising from 33% of respondents in 2006 to 36% in 2007. According to Goldstuck, these numbers are highly deceptive.

The reality is that the majority of these SME?s - 26% - are using WiFi to network their offices more efficiently, rather than enabling their staff to use it in wireless hotspots.

- Fin24

- Finance24