Telecom Trends International Predicts Ongoing Wi-Fi Growth

Press Release - May 17, 2007

Wi-Fi will achieve increasingly widespread adoption in both the consumer and enterprise markets over the next six years, according to a recent report by Telecom Trends International, which predicts total Wi-Fi equipment revenues of US$5.6 billion in 2012.

The mainstream availability of 802.11n – a higher-bandwidth, longer-range version of the Wi-Fi standard – will be a driving factor in Wi-Fi’s continued growth, according to Naqi Jaffery, the president and Chief Analyst of TTI. Although 802.11n has not yet been formally standardized, a forthcoming Draft Specification will allow users to easily transition to the final standard, via a software upgrade, when it becomes available.

As Wi-Fi adoption increases in the enterprise sector, spending by business users will overtake that of consumers over the coming years, according to Mr. Jaffery. Wi-Fi chips will also become increasingly common in consumer devices, however, as home multimedia networking becomes the norm.

The increasing prevalence of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile voice and data devices will be another growth-driving factor in both enterprise and consumer market segments, according to TTI, which expects roaming between cellular and Wi-Fi networks to become seamless within the next few years.