BOSTON, April 6 (UPI) -- The use of WiFi networks in homes will double by 2016 with emerging digitally connected life and work styles, a U.S. research company says.
Already used in around 25 percent of all households, WiFi home network penetration will expand to 42 percent or nearly 800 million households by 2016, the report by Boston-based Strategy Analytics said.
Ongoing broadband network expansion as well as the increasing use of mobile devices is fueling WiFi use in homes, "providing a solid foundation for future growth," telecompetitor.com reported Strategy Analytics as saying.
Emerging markets like Asia will see growing use of WiFi in the five-year period, its report found.
While the percentage of WiFi households is relatively low in China, there are more WiFi home networks up and running there than in any country in the world.
"Even though China's WiFi network penetration stood at only 25 percent in 2011, it will become the main growth driver in the global WiFi home market over the next five years, adding another 110 million WiFi households by 2016," Strategy Analytics said in the release.
Broadband networks "are almost ubiquitous" in South Korea, which at 80.3 percent has the highest penetration of WiFi households in the world, it said.
Britain ranked second behind South Korea in WiFi household penetration while Germany and France were practically tied for third, with Japan rounding out the top five at 68.4 percent.
The U.S. ranked eighth at 61 percent. India was last at 2.5 percent.
