Unwiring of U.S. Schools Considered Golden Opportunity for Wi-Fi Vendors

(Business News & Technology News, 23 Jan 2008)

There are approximately 50 million primary and secondary school students in the United States, in more than 98,000 schools. Increasingly those schools' administrators want to provide Wi-Fi coverage for students and staff. This presents a major market opportunity and the leading Wi-Fi equipment vendors are pursuing it with vigor.

While there are some obstacles to this market's growth, including educational funding constraints, inadequate infrastructure, lack of trained personnel, and security concerns, a number of other factors are driving it. Moreover, the demographic breakdown of school districts is itself a plus. According to ABI Research Vice President Stan Schatt, the 100 largest US school districts represent over 20 percent of the total available market. Wi-Fi vendors addressing this market will clearly get the most ¡®bang for their buck' by targeting those large school districts first.

Four of the top Wi-Fi vendors—Cisco Systems, Meru Networks, Aruba Networks, and Trapeze Networks—are focused on this market, and they are all helped by forces driving Wi-Fi into schools. These include heightened concerns for physical security, meaning deployment of wireless surveillance cameras; the need for economical ways to extend schools' phone systems; the presence of purpose-designed Wi-Fi products; the birth of "anytime, anywhere," on-demand instruction, and last but by no means least, the One Laptop per Child initiative, which was designed for children in developing countries, but which also means a growing availability of low-cost laptops for U.S. students.

Each of those vendors, however, brings its own strengths and weaknesses to the table. Some have developed powerful educational distribution channels and partnerships already; some offer unique network architectures; some are priced for tight school budgets. Others may be hampered by the high cost of their products, by their status as non-public companies, or by lack of sales resources or technical support.

Click here for more information on the study "The K-12 Wi-Fi Market Opportunity" by ABI Research