Data Monday: WiFi Device Connections

by April 15, 2012

It seems that whenever a discussion of mobility starts the topic of WiFi access comes up. How often are mobile users connecting their devices to WiFi networks instead of mobile networks? How pervasive are WiFi networks across the globe?

  • 25% all households worldwide have Wi-Fi networks set up. By 2016 worldwide household adoption of Wi-Fi will reach only 42%. (source)
  • 61% of households in the United States have WiFi networks set up. (source)
  • The number of public Wi-Fi hotspots across the global is expected to increase by 350% in the next four years to 5.8 million. (source)
  • Globally, smartphones account for 36% of all public Wi-Fi hotspot connections, compared to 48% for laptops and 10% for tablets. (source)
  • 94% of iPad sessions come from WiFi connections. (source)
  • A significantly higher percentage of iPhones (71%) than Android phones (32%) connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi networks in the United States (source)
  • In the UK, 87% of iPhones and 57% of Android phones connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi networks. (source)
  • Currently about 8% of US air passengers use WiFi in airplanes, up from 4% at the end of 2010. (source)