London leads Europe in Wi-Fi rankings

Research finds UK capital tops rival European cities in the use and adoption of wireless LAN technology and wireless hotspots.

Worldwide hotspot use by business users jumped 68 per cent between the second half of 2006 and the first half of 2007, with London leading the surge in adoption, a new survey today finds.

The Wi-Fi Hotspot Index by enterprise mobility services provider, iPass found this increase compared to a growth rate of 44 per cent in the previous six months, where Europe is now outpacing the US.

The domestic region expanded its worldwide share of Wi-Fi use over the US from 31 per cent to 36 per cent in the previous six months; with London racing ahead to achieve 124 per cent growth compared to the second half of 2006, alongside an average user session of 49 minutes.

The research, based on data gathered from nearly two million iPass Wi-Fi sessions during the six-moth survey period, showed the number of UK sessions grew by 98 per cent, with London extending its lead as the world capital of Wi-Fi and now accounting for nearly four times the sessions of the runner-up city, New York. Other top Wi-Fi using cities for the period included Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Singapore, San Francisco, Munich, San Jose and Los Angeles.

UK year-on-year growth was also positive with a 247 per cent rise on growth figures compiled for the first half of 2006.

The research also found that airports lead the way in the top locations for business people accessing hotspots, with 56 percent of sessions overall. Heathrow emerged as the most popular UK airport for accessing Wi-Fi, followed by Manchester, Edinburgh, Gatwick and Glasgow.

"The regional and global growth reflects a confidence within enterprises to enable their business travellers to use cutting edge technology to remain productive and efficient whilst away from the office," said René Hendrikse, iPass managing director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

The research was compiled using session data collected by iPass across its base of users at more than 3,500 companies around the world. The full study is available at www.ipass.com/wifihotspotindex.