Two Thirds of Mobile Professionals Feel Anxious Without Wi-Fi and 7 Percent Admit to Checking Smartphone During Sex, Says iPa...
November 28 2017 - 4:20AM
YASTEST
Mobile
workers connect to eight public hotspots every week on
average; one in five connects to more
than 20
REDWOOD SHORES, CA- 28 November
2017 - iPass Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS), a leading provider of global
mobile connectivity, today revealed the results of the iPass Mobile
Professional Report 2017. iPass surveyed more than 1,700 mobile
professionals worldwide about their connectivity habits and
preferences. It showed that people are addicted to Wi-Fi as part of
their business and personal lives. They are also so dependent on
their smartphones that they will break social etiquette to use
them.
Key findings include:
-
Nearly two thirds of people (62
percent) say that they feel anxious when not connected to
Wi-Fi
-
7 percent admitted to checking their
smartphone during sex, 72 percent from the toilet, and 11 percent
during a funeral
-
61 percent of mobile professionals said
that Wi-Fi was "impossible" or "very difficult" to give up - more
than for sex (58 percent), junk food (42 percent), smoking (41
percent), alcohol (33 percent), or drugs (31 percent)
-
A quarter of respondents (23 percent)
would even choose Wi-Fi over other daily essentials such as a
bath/shower, with 19 percent choosing it above human contact
-
Because of this reliance on Wi-Fi, the
average mobile professional connects to 8 public Wi-Fi hotspots
each week. One fifth connect to Wi-Fi hotspots 20 times a week or
more
-
After cost and location, Wi-Fi is
mobile professionals' top priority when choosing a hotel - more so
than the view or the food!
"You might expect to feel anxious before a first
date or during a big presentation, but it seems that the simple
prospect of not being connected to Wi-Fi is enough to set people on
edge," said Patricia Hume, chief commercial officer of iPass. "If
there were any doubt, our report proves that social etiquette is a
thing of the past when it comes to smartphone use. Technology, and
particularly smartphones have become an integral part of our lives,
so much so, that there's no scenario in which people won't check
their phone. Moreover, they expect to be connected to Wi-Fi when
they do it."
"Mobile professionals also crave Wi-Fi and believe
it harder to quit than even the most addictive habits, from smoking
to junk food. They will use dozens of public Wi-Fi hotspots every
month, and some would even choose it above basic hygiene or human
contact. Clearly Wi-Fi increasingly influences how we work, our
behavior and even the decisions we make, hotels being a great
example. Getting a room with a view is no longer the be-all and
end-all; mobile workers just want to be connected."
Wi-Fi empowers a more productive
workforce
Wi-Fi's importance to productivity is the biggest
reason why mobile workers feel so lost without it. Of those
respondents who said they felt anxious without Wi-Fi, 31 percent
said it was because they would find it more difficult to work
remotely.
The report shows that mobile professionals use
Wi-Fi and cellular data very differently. Whether due to mobile
performance issues, data restrictions, or reliability, Wi-Fi is
still the dominant force in connectivity, particularly for
data-intensive tasks such as video conferencing. Ninety percent of
mobile professionals say that they regularly stream audio/video
content over Wi-Fi, vs. just 34 percent who do so over a cellular
connection. Even lower-bandwidth internet tasks such as accessing
cloud services and browsing the internet were roughly twice as
popular over Wi-Fi.
This is not an isolated trend. There were several
findings in the report that demonstrate the importance of Wi-Fi for
mobile workforce productivity:
-
More than half of mobile workers (58
percent) said that having no/poor Wi-Fi would negatively impact
their ability to do their job in some capacity
-
Half of respondents said that they want
to be instantly connected to Wi-Fi on arrival at a hotel (50
percent), business meeting (53 percent), or airport (48
percent)
-
However, more than two thirds (68
percent) said they have decided against using a Wi-Fi service,
because the registration process was overly time consuming or
frustrating
"Mobile professionals increasingly expect to be
connected to Wi-Fi anywhere and everywhere," continued Hume. "Wi-Fi
is still unmatched in terms of its performance and reliability, and
as an employer, it is your duty to understand this fact and to
ensure your mobile workforce can connect to Wi-Fi easily and
securely, wherever they are. The financial cost of unproductive and
unhappy employees can be severe, and no business can afford to
neglect the connectivity needs of its ever more mobile
workforce."
Survey Methodology
This report is based on information obtained from
more than 1,700 respondents to an iPass survey of mobile
professionals. Survey respondents were asked about their
connectivity habits, preferences and expectations, and were asked
to provide opinions about their level of dependency on mobile
connectivity.
The survey was conducted between September 22,
2017 and October 14, 2017, representing mobile professionals across
multiple age groups from North America and Europe. Responses were
examined by region, age range and gender.
About iPass Inc.
Pass (NASDAQ: IPAS) is a leading provider of
global mobile connectivity, offering simple, secure, always-on
Wi-Fi access on any mobile device. Built on a software-as-a-service
(SaaS) platform, the iPass cloud-based service keeps its customers
connected by providing unlimited Wi-Fi connectivity on unlimited
devices. iPass is the world's largest Wi-Fi network, with more than
62 million hotspots in more than 180 countries and territories
where iPass customers have connected successfully at airports,
hotels, train stations, convention centers, outdoor venues,
inflight, and more. Using patented technology, the iPass
SmartConnect(TM) platform takes the guesswork out of Wi-Fi,
automatically connecting customers to the best hotspot for their
needs. Customers simply download the iPass SmartConnect app to
experience unlimited, everywhere, and invisible Wi-Fi.
iPassĀ® is a registered trademark of iPass Inc.
Wi-FiĀ® is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
iPass Media
Contacts:
Spark Communications
Alex Crawshaw / Mike Marquiss
+44 (0) 20 7436 0420
Email: ipass@sparkcomms.co.uk
iPass IR Contacts:
Kirsten Chapman / Becky Herrick
LHA Investor Relations
+1-415-433-3777
Email: ipass@lhai.com
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: iPass, Inc. via Globenewswire