Study: Americans love them some Wi-Fi
A new study of nearly 900 Americans highlights the country’s growing dependence on Wi-Fi connectivity.
The study, commissioned by Broadcom, revealed that 60 percent of respondents cannot go a full day without Wi-Fi before seeking a connection. Three in 10 respondents said they would not last an hour without a Wi-Fi connection.
To have access to fast, reliable Wi-Fi, respondents said they would make various sacrifices. Nine in 10 would give up at least one of their favorite online activities in exchange for a Wi-Fi connection. Of that group, half would give up a social network like Twitter (57 percent) or Facebook (50 percent), while one-third (34 percent) would give up emailing.
Reliance on Wi-Fi is so strong that many would also sacrifice guilty pleasures. Of those surveyed, 43 percent would go without chocolate, and 39 percent would go without coffee, for a month to guarantee access to a reliable Wi-Fi connection.
Michael Hurlston, senior vice president of the mobile and wireless group at Broadcom, said: “Wi-Fi has become the connectivity equivalent to coffee. But legacy Wi-Fi wasn’t built to handle the explosion of video consumption and the growing number of wireless devices being used today. To satisfy peoples’ dependence on Wi-Fi, we need faster, broader, further-reaching and more energy-efficient Wi-Fi – 5G Wi-Fi.”