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Amsterdam (pte033/10.02.2003/13:03) - The number of wireless LAN public access points increased dramatically in western Europe last year, according to a study by market researchers IDC http://www.idc.com.
The report shows that the number of so-called 'hotspots' jumped by 327 per cent to 1,150 locations in 2002, after a phase of near total stagnation in 2001. Analysts expect the number of market players to continue growing this year.
IDC senior research analyst Evelyn Wiggers said: "In the year 2003 even more players are going to enter the WLAN market. We expect an increase in companies specialising in WLAN, as well as for mobile network providers and telecommunications firms to start including WLAN in their range of services."
IDC attributes the slow start of WLAN in western Europe to legal hurdles. Once these had been cleared the market exploded, with Scandinavian countries leading the pack.
Along with the number of hotspots, the market saw a sharp increase in new providers, although these were mostly small local companies. The market is therefore highly fragmented, and very few companies have roaming agreements with other providers. Only Telia customers have access to hotspots in Scandinavia, while metronet users are limited to Austria.
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