| 9th November 2004 - A new survey from BroadGroup reveals
that European hotspot deployment is approaching 27,000.
Prices however are continuing to trend downwards, but
still remain higher than the US and Asia.
In this the most recent survey, Wi-Fi Tariffs Europe,
BroadGroup has surveyed 122 service providers in 28
countries. Since the last survey in June 2004, average
prices have moved down in most of the key timeband categories.
Although Europe remains more expensive than the US and
Asia markets, research for the report suggests that
prices are beginning to trend downwards.
The average price for one-hour – now at €5.74
(exclusive of taxes) - for example, a timeband now offered
by almost half of all service providers in Europe, has
fallen cumulatively by more than 11% since January of
this year. However it is noticeable that in the other
two most used timebands – 24 hours offered by 56%
of all service providers and 1 month (37%) – very
little discernible change has occurred in average prices
over the same period.
Deeper cuts have occurred in more experimental categories
such as 2 hours, 3 hours and one year. The average price
for one minute (offered by only a few operators) has
fallen by half.
“Prices are still imbalanced when judged against
the number of hotspots each provider has available and
the roaming opportunity offered,” commented Philip
Low of BroadGroup, “and if the current trend continues,
smaller players who lack funding to continue deployment
or roaming agreements or special location based offerings,
will be increasingly exposed as high tariffs become
unsustainable.”
An interesting trend noted in the survey is a shift
to prepaid methodologies has continued, and the availability
of subscription based offerings has reduced. More than
77% of all prices are based on prepaid cards, vouchers,
scratchcards and credit card payments. Subscriptions
have fallen back as a payment method, which contrasts
strongly with the US where marketing focuses extensively
on securing 3, 6 or 12 month contracts. European service
offerings are currently more concentrated on shorter-term
usage.
The report also finds that Hotspot deployment in Europe
has increased significantly, with the survey count now
approaching 27,000 across the 28 countries included.
More than 68% of all hotspots are located in France,
Germany and the UK. 58% of all hotspots are controlled
by 30 telco or mobile operators, with 92 competitor
companies managing the remaining 42%.
Back
to News Reports
|
