Public WLAN study

[anywhere]

Dear Reader,

I am presently conducting a study (M.Sc. thesis) of WLANs in public and open spaces - streets, squares, metro and bus stations, park walks, libraries etc - in urban environments. The focus is basically on whether or not it could be beneficial for the public sector to provide coverage in locations that otherwise might not be covered. I have a pretty good cost model for the infrastructure rollout, but I need help with the analysis of market potential. Therefore, I would like to know if anyone could give me helpful hints on the following:

1. Where can I find penetration forecasts for PDAs and laptops (i.e. for potential WLAN users) without buying a consulting firm report?

2. How do I model marketing costs? Are there any studies made that shows something like "average marketing share of total costs" or "average marketing cost per user"?

3. Are there any studies made on potential willingness-to-pay for WLAN access in public places? (I need only rough estimates.)

For help with these questions I would be deeply greatful.

/Thom

[twstdchild]

The Shosteck Group published a study earlier this year that touches on "Success Factors for The Portable Internet Access Market."

The study is available as a free white paper at http://www.shosteck.com/studies/index.htm. It deals with the failure of Metricom's Richochet and of MobileStar, but they do make some interesting total available market estimates as well.