Ask HN: Why there is a rise in WiFi hotspot market? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why there is a rise in WiFi hotspot market?

4 pointsmtndes5 comments

Despite the fact that the mobile internet is more affordable nowadays, all the reports I could find online claims that the WiFi hotspot market is expanding year by year.

There is a certain increase in demand in the markets where people, before the rise of mobile internet, had to want, because there wasn't other options. i.e: cafes, restaurants, inter-city busses and etc. And right now even though the mobile internet has become more accessible and affordable, the demand in these areas still seem to be persistent and even increasing. I've talked to many people and all say the same thing: "We don't connect to WiFi in cafes or restaurants or buses anymore. We use the mobile net".

What is the reason this market is expanding? What I'm missing?

Any ideas?

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The cancer that is marketing/advertising is driving this. It's true that people don't need a hotspot (the experience connecting to one is also awful, and often the backhaul is a single, shitty DSL connection anyway so much slower than even 3G).

Marketing/advertising pushes this to retailers as yet another way to stalk customers, get their details, etc and I guess the snake oil is working if the market is expanding. It's artificially created demand though; outside of the very low class everyone has access to more than enough mobile data and very few actually need to use these hotspots. Eventually the bubble is gonna pop.

> We don't connect to WiFi in cafes or restaurants or buses anymore. We use the mobile net.

My bet is that this comes only from people with full time jobs. The world is still full of youth or unemployment where free WiFi still makes sense.

And with a more affordable data plan there is also a increasing amount of data to be transferred with higher bitrates, more megapixels and more video content in general -- I guess it equals out for an everyday user.

In the city I'm living in (Italy) buildings are old (and with 2 ft stone walls, on average) so that mobile phones can only rely on wifi when you are indoors. I think this may apply to any old (like several centuries old) city. I don't know if cities of this kind are enough to make a statistically relevant case.

Do people really use cellular on laptops? Also, cellular is still painfully expensive in the US, and even unlimited plans get throttled.

Does that include people who are travelling?

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