RVers Drive Wifi Hotspots

A new survey on wifi use and hotspots sheds interesting light on RVers use of this internet connectivity tool. The research undertaken by MultiMedia Intelligence, a marketing group, indicates that while Europe has by far the greatest "footprint" of wifi hotspots (42% of world's hotspots), the US tops the world's useage, with a whopping 53% of connections made projected for 2007. The group says companies like Starbucks and McDonald's who offer wifi connections to customers has a great deal to do with the American popularity of wifi.

Coffee and burgers aside, the group says that RVers are a driving force in the marketplace. While the growth in hotspot locations will continue to be in cafes, the greatest uptick in specific users locations will be "public venues and RV locations." Worldwide, the research indicates that 170,000 wifi hotspots will be operating by the end of the year.

Photo: JEM on flickr.com

Supplier Predicts Free Wifi Coming to RV Parks

Kelly Hogan keeps RVers keyed into the internet. As the man-in-charge of NomadISP, Hogan makes sure his RV park owning customers keeps the internet signals flowing to RVers around the country. To make sure it happens, Hogan's company has service trucks parked in strategic places around the country. If a problem comes up, or a new customer needs service, one of Hogan's employees hops a plane and flies to where the service truck is located.

Hogan's company is big: Looking to pull in over a million dollars in revenue this year, NomadISP is KOA's choice of wireless internet providers. But to Hogan, this should be no surprise--after all RVers are becoming more and more dependent on internet access, to pay bills, do banking, and surely to keep up on blogs like these.

With wifi at your local coffeshop or fast food franchise, it's only natural that the internet would be at the RV park. Since you'll probably only spend a couple of bucks for a java and get your web access for nothing, it seems only natural your wifi should be free after you'd laid out considerably more dollars to spend the night at the RV park. Hogan agrees, "The consumer has pretty much come to the conclusion that Internet access should be anywhere and free." He predicts paying for wifi at RV parks will become a thing of the past. Check out the whole story on the Corvallis, Oregon, Gazette Times.

Photo courtesy Imeallach on flickr.com