More and More People are Working Remotely
By Carmen Bolanos
November 5, 2007
While we often describe remote working as packing up and heading across the globe, let’s not forget that a lot of folks are freeing themselves from the traditional workspace just to the nearest coffee shop or bookstore to get online. This may not have the same romance as the former scenario but it’s a first step in what we at NuNomad believe is a quickly growing trend that will see increased numbers take the bigger leap into the world soon.
iPass Wifi Hotspot Index has recently released a report that supports our assumption. By using tracking data from over 80,000 hotspots in over 85 countries they have compiled a study showing the patterns of internet usage across countries, cities and venues. The current report compares the last six months of ’06 with the first six months of ’07.
Some of the most dramatic increases include a 239% rise in internet usage both in Europe and other world countries (not included in main country categories). The smallest increase in growth was in Asia/Pacific but even that growth was a whopping 86%.
In terms of venue, airports lead the pack for number of wifi sessions but hotels saw the largest increase of 255%. As might be expected, the top three retail locations for internet use are cafes, restaurants and bookstores. However, interestingly, the largest increase in usage was seen in train stations (good news for us nomads) at 139%.
Top 3 countries for internet use? The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany have a large lead over the remaining listed countries. The remaining of the top ten are all in Europe with the exception of Japan and Australia. Australia boasts the largest growth at a colossal 789%!
As for cities, London is way in the lead with nearly 4 times the number of internet sessions as the next cities, New York and Tokyo. London also experienced the largest growth in the last year for number of sessions.
So – what does it all mean? Basically, more people are getting online out in public. While we don’t know how much of the internet usage was business vs. personal, we can probably deduce that both business and personal use in public places is increasing rapidly. This trend will invariably result in a greater number of venues offering wifi and greater ease of accessing internet for all of us who rely on this type of accessibility!
