Offering the convenience of being able to connect anywhere in a home, it's no surprise that WiFi-based home networks are becoming the popular choice to provide data connections for any consumer device, a trend iGR confirmed in its new "U.S. Home Broadband & WiFi Usage Forecast, 2011‐2015" report.
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Comcast Xfinity wireless gateway |
Over the four-year forecast period, iGR said that among the heaviest users of WiFi in the home, total bandwidth used is expected to increase from more than 390 GB per month in 2011 to nearly 440 GB per month in 2015.
Driven mainly by the demand for both streamed and downloaded video, by 2015, iGR forecasts that home-based WiFi will increase from 55 percent of the total bandwidth used in 2011 to more than 75 percent.
One of the revealing elements of the study was that the use of WiFi varied between age groups. Not surprisingly, younger users who have smartphones "are more likely to use WiFi in various locations" and tend to be in their 20s, 30s or 40s, while older consumers are less likely to use WiFi.
Service providers are taking notice of the WiFi desire.
From a wireline perspective, AT&T (NYSE: T), for example, began offering a new U-verse TV Wireless Receiver that enables consumers set up their TV wherever they want it without having to find or install an Ethernet gateway to get service in a particular room of their home.
Cable operators such as Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) are also being no less aggressive with WiFi. In an attempt to lure more consumers to sign up for higher speed tier service, the MSO will offer an integrated voice-and-data gateway for free.
For more:
- see the release
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