In a breakdown of Wi-Fi minutes used in Ireland, Bitbuzz has emerged as the leading service provider by volume.
While the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) does not provide a breakdown of the figures, Bitbuzz confirmed that it carried over 52pc of the 12.8 million Wi-Fi minutes used on Ireland in the fourth quarter of last year.
It is understood that Eircom is in second place in terms of minutes used.
The new data released by ComReg highlights that the Bitbuzz share of minutes used is ahead of the total combined share of major telecommunications organisations such as Eircom and BT Ireland and the other market players.
“We have always suspected that we were the market leader, but this is the first time this has been independently confirmed as a fact,” said Shane Deasy, managing director, Bitbuzz.
“We are not entirely surprised with this achievement, which is down to a great effort by the Bitbuzz team, and also to the various partnerships we have struck up, in particular the quality of the hotspot locations and their excellent staff. We believe there is great scope for the further expansion of Bitbuzz and development of services we offer.”
Bitbuzz had a total number of 142,866 registered users at the end of Q4. This represented a 10pc increase on Q3, at which point there was 129,982 users. At the half-year point, there were approximately 110,000 users.
Usage data from Bitbuzz shows that the Wi-Fi index for December decreased to 83 from 119, reflecting a natural decline in usage over the Christmas period, due to a reduction in corporate travel.
The index grew to 96 in February 2009, which remains lower than the previous levels of usage and reflects the current business environment.
Underpinning this is the number of log-ins per site per day, which is six. This is down from 10 in Q2, 2008. The hour from 6pm–7pm remains the busiest part of the day.
Earlier this week, Bitbuzz announced that it won the contract to provide Wi-Fi facilities for the Fitzwilliam Hotel brand, both in its established Dublin location and also in Belfast, where the Fitzwilliam Hotel officially opened its doors this month.
By John Kennedy
