Wi-Fi Revenue to Reach US$5.6 Billion by 2012

Wi-Fi is poised for widespread adoption in both consumer and enterprise market segments over the next six years, according to a market research report released by Telecom Trends International. The report says the overall Wi-Fi market will reach US$5.6 billion in revenue in 2012.

The industry adoption of 802.11n Draft Specification 2.0 will be a major factor in the growth of Wi-Fi, said Naqi Jaffery, President and Chief Analyst, Telecom Trends International. The specification will allow equipment vendors to transition to the final 802.11n standard next year through software upgrades. Offering end-user data rates of well over 100 Mb/s, 802.11n more than quadruples the speeds of Wi-Fi networks.

Mr. Jaffery said with increasing Wi-Fi adoption in the enterprise market, revenue in the enterprise space will surpass that in the consumer market over the next six years. Wi-Fi is increasingly becoming pervasive, he said, with presence in a wide range of consumer electronic devices. 802.11n, he added, will herald a networked home where multimedia networking will be the norm.

The implementation of Unlicensed Mobile Access represents the first step in fixed mobile convergence, the report said, and the adoption of IP Multimedia Subsystem will give impetus to this convergence. According to the report, end-user devices are increasingly both voice and data enabled, and are becoming dual-mode, supporting both Wi-Fi and cellular networks. During the forecast period of this report, voice and data roaming between cellular and Wi-Fi networks will become seamless."

Posted to the site on 4th May 2007