Dubai: Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) has become the multimedia interface of choice and has ruled the entertainment device market for the past few years with cameras, gaming devices and personal media players all incorporating this technology.
But the problem is often with a single company dominating the market. In media players, it is Apple's iPod Touch while in gaming consoles and devices, it is Nintendo selling 79 per cent of WiFi-enabled consoles and 87 per cent of WiFi-enabled handheld devices in 2009, according In-Stat's statistics.
"Given that it is a close-range network, the growth of WiFi is going to be driven primarily from the growth in adoption of the underlying broadband access network. Our latest forecast estimates the UAE broadband market to grow by 20 per cent in 2013," said Saeed Irfan, Research Manager, Telecommunications, IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
Home use
On the consumer side, we can expect more wireless networking at home — from a wider use of laptops, mobile phones, media players and peripherals connected to the network to the emergence of WiFi-connected home appliances in the future. On the enterprise side, we can also expect more companies adopting a managed WiFi network to enable employees working nomadically with their laptops or mobile devices inside the corporate premises.
"There are many networking standards. The difference lies mainly in the signal range and the data throughput that each standard can carry. The major ones would be 802.11a/b/g with the latest and recently ratified the 802.11n standard. This standard can provide a much higher maximum data rate than the previous standards — up to 600Mbps from previously 54Mbps," said Irfan.
According to research firm In-Stat, WiFi-enabled entertainment device shipments will increase from 108.8 million in 2009 to 177.3 million globally in 2013. Beginning in 2010, these devices will begin shipping with 802.11n, while previously all devices were being shipped with 802.11b.
"Wi-Fi is fast becoming the technology of choice when it comes to connecting consumer electronics, and we expect that trend to solidify as we enter the next decade," said Victoria Fodale, senior analyst and market intelligence manager at In-Stat.
He said with industry innovation making it easier and more convenient to connect, consumers will embrace Wi-Fi in devices ranging from TVs and home music systems to gaming devices and portable media players."
Risk of interference
"We are expecting 30.9 per cent compound annual growth rate for the worldwide WiFi-enabled mobile phone market from 2009-2013 compared to only 8.2 per cent for the overall global mobile phone market," said Irfan.
He said the difference between internet access through WiFi or through broadband is the higher risk of interference of a WiFi connection — mainly because WiFi signals are transmitted through an unlicensed spectrum.
In addition, it is relatively easier for someone to access a WiFi connection undetected — especially if the access point is not secured — thus the connection is more susceptible to the bandwidth rate slowing as more people access the same point.
According to In-Stat, as WiMAX is gaining ground it will become the next generation of wireless broadband technology. WiMAX targets multiple site mass metropolitan applications.
"WiMax is a wireless broadband network technology that can deliver up to 40Mbps in a cell with a radius of three to 10 kilometres, although actual performance can differ depending on the situation in the area of coverage and network configuration — while WiFi is a close-range network technology with an access point that can typically cover up to 250 metres for the latest standard. In addition, WiMax operates on a different spectrum band from WiFi," Irfan said.
