LONDON-The average price for one-hour connectivity to public access wireless local area networks in Europe is $8.24, according to a new report by London-based consultancy BroadGroup. In addition, the difference between average pricing for one-hour use and 24-hour-use pricing is 57 percent in Europe, with most pricing categories being prepaid.
“Retail prices for public Wi-Fi in Europe remain quite high, although there is some evidence of overall decline, but it is slight,” said Philip Low, managing consultant at BroadGroup and author of the report, “Wi-Fi Tariffs Europe.”
In addition, about 71 percent of hot spots are located in only five European countries.
“Put starkly, Europe and Eastern Europe combined have a lower hot-spot population than South Korea,” added Low. “Execution of the announced deployment plans over the next 12 months will really determine the future of public Wi-Fi across the region.”
In addition, competition is emerging from North American roaming entrants hoping to extend the aggregator model, the report said, which analyzes service tariffs offered by 97 providers in 20 countries across Eastern and Western Europe.
