This IDC study presents IDC's hotspot network equipment capital expenditure (capex) forecast for Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ covering the years 2006?2010. Key features included forecasts for 11 APEJ markets ? Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Hotspot equipment covered includes indoor and outdoor access points, wireless bridges, wireless routers, and switches used in public hotspots. This study also takes a closer look at emerging technologies, such as WiMAX, to understand how these new WiBro technologies will interact and compete or cooperate with 802.11-based systems in hotspot networks.

"The APEJ region has markets such as the PRC and India where WiFi hotspots will complement the fixed-line Internet access infrastructure and in some areas such as rural zones as a fixed-line substitution technology," says Bill Rojas, contributing analyst, IDC Asia/Pacific. "Over the next five years, the region will see steady growth in hotspot network equipment driven largely by demand from mobile carriers who will capitalize on their extensive 2G/3G network infrastructure in order to encompass WiFi hotspot networks," he adds.