Trend Report

Consumers Want To Surf Untethered

But Public Wireless Access Won't Live Up To Consumers' Expectations

Sally M. Cohen
 and  two contributors
Feb 29, 2008

Summary

Use of the wireless Internet is growing: Today, 22% of US consumers go online wirelessly outside the home, compared with 16% of US online households a year ago. This growth is slated to continue, as nearly half of consumers say that they would like to surf untethered in the future. While the mounting interest in wireless access is due in part to increasing adoption of wireless home networks — 25% of consumers use the wireless Internet at home today — the rising availability of public wireless access is also a contributing factor. Still, while consumers express a desire to be able to access the Internet at hotels, libraries, and airports, the current reality of public wireless as offered by hotspot providers, municipalities, or private businesses won't live up to their expectations about price, security, and parity with wireline broadband. To ensure that they gain and retain users, product managers should raise awareness and set realistic expectations among consumers.

Log in to continue reading
Client log in
Welcome back. Log in to your account to continue reading this research.
Become a client
Become a client today for these benefits:
  • Stay ahead of changing market and customer dynamics with the latest insights.
  • Partner with expert analysts to make progress on your top initiatives.
  • Get answers from trusted research using Izola, Forrester's genAI tool.
Purchase this report
This report is available for individual purchase ($1495).