100,000 for worldwide Wi-Fi this year

The number of Wi-Fi hotspots looks set to break the six-figure barrier by the end of the year, according to analysts.

A new report from research firm Informa Telecoms and Media is predicting the number of Wi-Fi hotspots will reach 100,000 before the start of 2006.

The report also found that, at the end of the second quarter of this year, the number of Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe had already reached more than 84,000, with most new growth in the market for this quarter coming from the Asia-Pacific region.

However the fastest growth for Q2 of this year has been in western Europe, which now plays home to 42 per cent of the world's Wi-Fi hotspots. North America remains the poor cousin of the Wi-Fi world with just 26 per cent of global hotspots.

Despite the continuing boom in hotspots, users are apparently still scarce. A recent report by analyst house Gartner found that just one quarter of business travellers are using wireless hotspots.