FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-Mobile end users continue to use wireless technology more for personal use than professional, according to research by IDC. A survey of more than 2,500 members of IDC’s Mobile Advisory Council found 34 percent of respondents use a wireless 802.11 Wi-Fi network at home, while 27 percent use a comparable network at work.
According to the study, personal Wi-Fi networks are proliferating, with entertainment and messaging dominating at-home applications. Meanwhile, e-mail and personal information management applications and Internet and intranet access top wireless office applications.
“In lean economic times, providing a wireless LAN is a low priority for many IT organizations, while lower price points on wireless access points has spurred increased use of WLAN in the home,” said Randy Giusto, IDC’s vice president of personal technology and services. Giusto added that the use of wireless at home is also being driven by the low cost of wireless-enabled computing devices and wireless home network solutions.
IDC also said public hot-spot interest is high, but users have varying expectations regarding price and payment. The most popular public hot spots are located in travel locations, coffee shops and at universities.
