Mobile workers are using a wide variety of connected devices, but Wi-Fi challenges including availability and data limits are still a major stumbling block to increased productivity, according to iPass’ global mobile workforce report for the first quarter of 2013.
Sixty-two percent of workers said they were already using personal smartphones at work, illustrating the strength of the bring-your-own-device trend — and 72% believed that their personal devices should be enabled for work purposes. Smartphones are taking an increasingly prominent role: last year, the device of choice for mobile workers was a laptop, but in 2013, it is the iPhone, according to the report. On the other hand, non-Apple tablets are gaining momentum among mobile workers, with 28% saying that they planned to own a Samsung Galaxy tablet within the next six months, and 17% expecting to buy a Windows 8 tablet in the same time frame.
iPass concluded that mobile workers, particularly those who work internationally, are becoming more price-sensitive. Last year, 30% of workers didn’t know or care how much data they used each month on their smartphones — this year, that figure fell to 17%. The report also noted that with 42% of workers saying that they are limiting their mobile data use due to restrictions in their monthly plans, that can have implications for BYOD programs if users are trying to decide whether to use their data on work or personal uses.
“Wi-Fi is becoming ubiquitous, but the majority of mobile workers report having trouble locating and connecting to a hotspot at least one a week,” the report said. “Wi-Fi service is particularly poor in hotels and airports” — where such service is typically assumed to be sufficient. Forty percent of workers reported having trouble connecting to Wi-Fi at their hotels, and 44% had issues at airports and on airplanes.
Part of that issue may be cost-related, iPass noted. A recent HotelChatter report said that the average price for 24 hours of Wi-Fi access at a hotel is $13.95, and some hotels charge for each computing device separately. However, hotels may also offer free Wi-Fi in common areas.
“In places where both free and paid Wi-Fi are offered, such as airports, workers may opt for the free network even if it is barely functional,” iPass’ report said. “Cost concerns may even pressure workers to forego Wi-Fi entirely, though it is technically available. Each of these scenarios can result in significant productivity setbacks. … Every minute spent worrying about Wi-Fi is a minute that mobile workers aren’t doing and can’t do their jobs.”
Still, the report said that 54% of mobile workers are willing to pay for Wi-Fi, with international workers being particularly likely to do so. However, only 7% of workers wanted a per-use or per-day fee structure rather than a roaming-based rate plan. About 40% of workers wanted Wi-Fi roaming to be a free feature on their monthly cellular plans.
With Informa Telecoms and Media projecting that the number of Wi-Fi hotspots will reach 5.8 million by 2015, the technology is very widespread. Most mobile workers, about 65%, reported that they are within range of a hotspot at least 11 hours a day, between home, the office, restaurants, shops and other locations. But 56% said they still had trouble locating a hotspot at least once a week, and some had even more trouble — about 20% couldn’t find a Wi-Fi connection three times a week, and almost 14% ran into problems at least once a day.
In Asia, 63% of workers couldn’t find Wi-Fi at least once a week, versus 59% in Europe and 49% in North America.
“Simply owning a smartphone and a tablet is no longer sufficient for mobile work. To be effective, these devices must be connected to high-speed networks,” iPass said.
Read more of the report here.
