Gartner Says Frequent Users of Wireless LANs Will Total 4.2 Million in 2003
Analysts Present the Outlook for the Wireless LAN Market at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2003
SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2003 — The mobile industry will benefit from the rapid adoption of wireless LANs (WLANs), with the number of frequent WLAN users in North America growing from 4.2 million in 2003 to more than 31 million in 2007, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).
These findings were released today during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2003, which is being held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego.
"As more and more applications are built requiring broadband connections, the possibility of more than 100,000 'hot spots' within the next five years is an innovation that cannot come too soon," said Ken Dulaney, vice president and research director for Gartner. "However, due to the need to wait until a large enough population is equipped with WLAN capability, profitability for hot spot providers will be stalled for three or four years."
Gartner analysts said businesses should deploy 802.11b now. In most cases, businesses will be satisfied with performance over the long term, and 802.11b will be the technology of choice for hot spot frequenters. However 802.11a, in combination with 802.11g, will begin to replace 802.11b purchases in early 2004. The additional bandwidth will be used for new applications such as voice over IP and streaming video.
"When they mature in 2004, 802.11a WLANs will offer significant technological advantages over 802.11b networks," said Dulaney. "Some of the advantages include link rates of up to 54 Mbps, lack of interference from Bluetooth and consumer devices operating in the crowded 2.4 GHz band, and the availability of up to 13 channels in North America and more in European markets."
According to Gartner, more than 50 percent of all WLAN implementations will take place within the vertical markets through 2004.
"The applications for WLANs in vertical markets are endless," said Dulaney. "Quantifiable results can easily be measured by baselining nonwireless productivity and costs and measuring them against wireless-based communications systems."
Among some of the vertical industries taking advantage of the growing WLAN market are education, healthcare and warehouse/manufacturing.
"Wireless use in high schools and higher education is helping to evolve teaching methods with more Web-based use in class, with online testing as a result," Dulaney said. "The use of wireless in healthcare is decreasing costs for network systems, adding mobility for recuperating patients, decreasing patient stays and increasing healthcare benefits. It is also adding to accuracy of medications and is used for real-time patient tracking."
Dulaney added, "In warehouses and manufacturing, a WLAN decreases the number of inventory specialists required, making warehousing systems more efficient, less costly and more accurate, with analysis of real-time inventory levels."
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the IT industry's largest and most strategic conference, providing business leaders with an insightful look at the future of IT. For more than 10,000 IT professionals from the world's leading enterprises, Gartner's annual Symposium/ITxpo events are key components of their annual planning efforts. Attendees are responsible for more than $35 billion in IT spending for their respective companies. For more information about Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2003, please visit www.gartner.com/symposium or call 1-800-778-1997.
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