Public Access WLAN Case Studies 2007
Evaluating Global WiFi Hotspot Service and Service Providers

Introduction

The subscription model of public access WLAN is teetering on the brink of disaster - The new WLAN Public Access paradigm is here!! How can public access WiFi hotspot service providers run their business in a manner that is sustainable and optimizes overall business objectives including revenue, differentiation, customer satisfaction, and retention?

With experience covering this market over the last four years and new research with this 2007 report, Mind Commerce answers these questions and more. This report provides coverage of 43 worldwide public access WLAN service providers, including bankrupt and merged companies, with a comparison and evaluation of global hotspot successes, failures, operator plans and best practices. See which service providers have failed, who has survived, who has thrived and why. See our analysis of their business plans and what we recommend their strategies should now be for growth.

For the last four years, Mind Commerce has been the definitive source of analysis about the public access WLAN market. This latest research represents a highly valuable and timely analysis, forecasts and recommendations for the public access WiFi "hot spot" market from a case study perspective. No other report focuses on the existing worldwide hot spot business from the perspective of the hot spot operators themselves.

This report answers important questions:

• What is the growth potential for public access WLAN?
• What is working and what is not working in the hot spot market?
• What are the rational business models for hot spot operation?
• Who are the leading worldwide hot spot operators and why?
• Which hot spot operators will be successful for the long-term and why?

This report provides additional valuable information including:

• Worldwide public WiFi market forecast 2007-2012
• Coverage of advertiser paid WiFi such as Google
• Coverage of municipal WiFi
• Hot spot customers segmentation by usage demands and requirements
• Hot spot usability assessment from the end-users perspective
• Business case analysis for hot spot operation
• Analysis of travel patterns in the US as they apply to hotspot usage
• Case study review, analysis and recommendations for a total of 43 representative hot spot service providers including 15 operators in North America, 12 operators in Europe, and 16 operators in Asia.

Key Findings

• Cellular broadband data will significantly disrupt public access WLAN
• Service providers must find the right mix of revenue sources
• Advertiser paid free Wi-Fi and location Wi-Fi will eventually work together
• Free Wi-Fi model will take 2 to 3 years to fully commercialize
• Muni Wi-Fi will have to overcome many issues including privacy, network management, ease of use, and adoption rates

Case Study Coverage

North American Hotspot Operators

Verizon

T-mobile

Ipass

AT&T

Wayport

Gric

Stsn

Boingo

Panera Bread Company

Hotspotzz

Hereuare

Surf And Sip

Fatport

Pronto

Café.com

European Hotspot Operators

Telia Home-Run

Sonera Homerun

Telenor

BT Openzone

The Cloud (UK)

TDC Mobile Denmark

KPN Hotspots

Wlan Gmbh

T-mobile (Austria)

Megabeam

Aptilo Network

Swisscom Eurospot

Asia Hotspot Operators

Cbcom (China)

China Mobile (China)

China Netcom (China)

China Netcom Hotspots

Smcc (Shanghai, China)

Ntt-c (Japan)

Ntt Docomo Communications (Japan)

Hanaro Telecom

Korea Telecom

Singtel

Starhub (Singapore)

Airborne Access

Azure (Australia)

Blink (Epldt Inc, Philippine Ld Telephone Company)

Pccw Netvigator (Hong Kong)

Yellowspots (Malaysia, Asia)

Table of Contents

Preface: The New Public Access Paradigm.

Executive Summary: The WLAN Hotspot Adventure.

Introduction: WLAN Hotspots.

802.11 WLAN Technical Overview..

Evolution of 802.11.

Physical Aspects of WLAN hotspot deployment.

Security and the WLAN.

Roaming and WLAN.

Handover Roaming.

Contractual Roaming.

Business Cases for WLAN.

High-Traffic Coffee Shop.

Free Access within an Established Coffee House Chain.

Established chain, high-traffic locale w/access charges.

Airport Deployment.

Earning Money from WLAN Hotspots.

Subscribers.

Services.

Mixed Harvest.

Hotspot Operator Overview.

Mobile Operator Revenue.

Business outlook for the industry.

Creating Success through Widespread Coverage.

Aspects of Failure.

What lies Ahead.

Fundamental Questions about the WLAN Paradigm..

Psychographic Profiles of the Internet Users.

Business User

Average User

Youth User

Hotspot Typing and Business Cases.

Enterprise.

Cafes.

Airports.

Hotels.

Apartment Complexes.

Comparing Access.

T-Mobile.

T-Mobile Hotspots.

T-Mobile Subscription/Access Options.

Wayport.

Wayport Hotspots.

Wayport Subscription/Access Options.

Boingo.

Boingo Hotspots.

Boingo Subscription/Access Options.

Hotspotzz (formerly Wi-Fi Metro).

Hotspotzz Hotspots.

Hotspotzz Subscription/Access Options.

Surf and Sip.

Surf and Sip Hotspots.

Surf and Sip Subscription/Access Options.

FatPort.

FatPort Hotspots.

FatPort Subscription/Access Options.

Café.com

Café.com Hotspots.

Café.com Subscription/Access Options.

Panera Bread Company.

Panera Hotspots.

Panera Subscription/Access Options.

STSN Hotspots.

STSN Subscription/Access Options.

Today's Hotspot Operators.

North America.

North America hotspot operators as of December 2006.

Outlook and Recommendations.

Europe.

Top European hotspot operators as of November 2006.

Asia.

Top Asian hotspot operators as of November 2006.

Case Studies: North American Hotspot Operators.

Advertising based free Wi-Fi: The "Googlization" of Wi-Fi

Verizon.

Verizon Hotspots.

Verizon Strategy.

Verizon Outlook and Recommendations.

T-Mobile.

T-Mobile Hotspots.

T-Mobile Subscription/Access Options.

T-Mobile Strategy.

T-Mobile Outlook and Recommendations.

iPass.

iPass Subscription/Access Options.

iPass Strategy.

Outlook and Recommendations.

AT&T Wireless Hotspots.

AT&T Wireless Subscription/Access Options.

AT&T Wireless Strategy.

AT&T Wireless Outlook and Recommendations.

Wayport.

Wayport Subscription/Access Options.

Wayport Strategy.

Wayport Outlook and Recommendations.

GRIC (Note: merged with iPass)

GRIC Hotspots.

GRIC Subscription/Access Options.

GRIC Strategy.

GRIC Outlook and Recommendations.

STSN.

STSN Hotspots.

STSN Subscription/Access Options.

STSN Strategy.

STSN Outlook and Recommendations.

Boingo.

Boingo Hotspots *Update? JiWire lists about 7680 hotspots*

Boingo Subscription/Access Options.

Boingo Strategy.

Boingo Outlook and Recommendations.

Panera Bread Company.

Panera Hotspots.

Panera Subscription/Access Options.

Panera Strategy.

Panera Outlook and Recommendations.

Hotspotzz (formerly Wi-Fi Metro)

Hotspotzz Hotspots

Hotspotzz Subscription/Access Options.

Hotspotzz Strategy.

Hotspotzz Outlook and Recommendations.

HereUAre (Note: OUT OF BUSINESS)

HereUAre Hotspots.

Subscription/Access Options.

HereUAre Strategy.

HereUAre Outlook and Recommendations.

Surf and Sip.

Surf and Sip Hotspots.

Surf and Sip Subscription/Access Options.

Surf and Sip Strategy.

Surf and Sip Outlook and Recommendations.

FatPort.

FatPort Hotspots.

FatPort Subscription/Access Options.

FatPort Strategy.

FatPort Outlook and Recommendations.

Pronto.

Pronto Hotspots.

Pronto Subscription/Access Options.

Pronto Strategy.

Pronto Outlook and Recommendations.

Café.com

Café.com Hotspots.

Café.com Subscription/Access Options.

Café.com Strategy.

Café.com Outlook and Recommendations.

North American Operator Summary.

European Hotspot Operators.

Telia Home-Run.

Telia Home-Run Hotspots.

Telia Home-Run Subscription/Access Options.

Telia Home-Run Strategy.

Telia Home-Run Outlook and Recommendations.

Sonera HomeRun.

Sonera Hotspots.

Sonera Subscription/Access Prices.

Sonera Strategy.

Sonera Outlook and Recommendations.

Telenor.

Telenor Hotspots.

Telenor Subscription/Access Options.

Telenor Strategy.

Telenor Outlook and Recommendations.

BT OpenZone.

BT OpenZone Hotspots.

BT OpenZone Subscription/Access Options.

Subscriptions.

BT OpenZone Strategy.

BT OpenZone Outlook and Recommendations.

The Cloud (U.K.)

The Cloud Hotspots.

The Cloud Subscription/Access Options.

The Cloud Strategy.

The Cloud Outlook and Recommendations.

TDC Mobile Denmark.

TDC Mobile Hotspots.

TDC Mobile Subscription/Access Options.

TDC Mobile Strategy.

TDC Mobile Outlook and Recommendations.

KPN Hotspots.

KPN Subscription/Access Options.

KPN Strategy.

KPN Outlook and Recommendations.

WLAN GmbH.

WLAN GmbH Hotspots.

WLAN GmbH Subscription/Access Options.

WLAN GmbH Strategy.

WLAN GmbH Outlook and Recommendations.

T-Mobile (Austria)

T-Mobile Hotspots.

T-Mobile Subscription/Access Options.

Hot Spot Pass w/Credit Card.

T-Mobile Strategy.

T-Mobile Outlook and Recommendations.

Megabeam (now Swisscom)

Megabeam Hotspots.

Megabeam Subscription/Access Options (for Italy)

Megabeam Strategy.

Megabeam Outlook and Recommendations.

Aptilo Network.

Aptilo Hotspots.

Aptilo Subscription/Access Options.

Aptilo Strategy.

Aptilo Outlook and Recommendations.

Swisscom Eurospot (a subsidiary of Swisscom)

Swisscom Hotspots.

Swisscom Eurospot Subscription/Access Options.

Swisscom Strategy.

Swisscom Outlook and Recommendations.

European Operator Summary.

Asia.

CBCom (China)

CBCom Hotspots.

CBCom Subscription/Access Options.

CBCom Strategy.

CBCom Outlook and Recommendations.

China Mobile (China)

China Mobile Hotspots.

China Mobile Subscription/Access Options.

China Mobile Strategy.

China Mobile Outlook and Recommendations.

China Netcom (China)

China Netcom Hotspots.

China Netcom Subscription/Access Options.

China Netcom Strategy.

China Netcom Outlook and Recommendations.

SMCC (Shanghai, China)

SMCC Hotspots.

SMCC Subscription/Access Options.

SMCC Strategy.

SMCC Outlook and Recommendations.

NTT-C (Japan)

NTT-C Hotspots.

NTT-C Subscription/Access Options.

NTT-C Strategy.

NTT-C Outlook and Recommendations.

NTT DoCoMo Communications (Japan)

NTT DoCoMo Hotspots.

NTT DoCoMo Subscription/Access Options.

NTT DoCoMo Strategy.

NTT DoCoMo Outlook and Recommendations.

Hanaro Telecom.

Hanaro Telecom Hotspots.

Hanaro Telecom Subscription/Access Options.

Hanaro Telecom Strategy.

Hanaro Telecom Outlook and Recommendations.

Korea Telecom.

Korea Telecom Hotspots.

Korea Telecom Subscription/Access Options.

Korea Telecom Strategy.

Korea Telecom Outlook and Recommendations.

SingTel.

SingTel Hotspots.

SingTel Subscription/Access Options.

SingTel Strategy.

SingTel Outlook and Recommendations.

StarHub (Singapore)

StarHub Hotspots.

StarHub Subscription/Access Options.

StarHub Strategy.

StarHub Outlook and Recommendations.

Airborne Access (a subsidiary of ePLDT, Philippines)

Airborne Access Hotspots.

Airborne Access Subscription/Access Options.

Pre-Paid.

Airborne Access Strategy.

Airborne Access Outlook and Recommendations.

Azure (Australia)

Azure Hotspots.

Azure Subscription/Access Options.

Azure Strategy.

Azure Outlook and Recommendations.

Blink (ePLDT Inc, Philippine LD Telephone Company)

Blink Hotspots.

Blink Subscription/Access Options.

Blink Strategy.

Blink Outlook and Recommendations.

PCCW Netvigator (Hong Kong)

PCCW IMS Hotspots.

PCCW IMS Subscription/Access Options (prices in HK dollars.

PCCW IMS Strategy.

PCCW IMS Outlook and Recommendations.

YellowSpots (Malaysia, Asia)

YellowSpots Hotspots.

YellowSpots Subscription/Access Options.

YellowSpots Strategy.

YellowSpots Outlook and Recommendations.

Asian/Australian Operator Summary.

Worldwide Public Hotspot Forecast 2007-2012.

Total Worldwide Public Hotspots.

Free Worldwide Public Hotspots.

Summary.

INDEX.

About The Author.

Now an independent consultant, Zaga previously worked with Ericsson for 6 years as Senior Product Manager for 3G and Business Development Manager for packet data in which she has engaged in forecasting, product development, 3G business strategy development, fraud prevention and developed business in the areas of WLAN and AAA. She has worked closely with operators all over the world, particularly in Asia and Latin America. Zaga is also a published author in various industry periodicals including Telecommunications International, Telecommunications the Americas, and USA Today.