Lausanne World Pulse – Mobile, Glocal & Evangelism

By Jonathan Petersen
June 2007

Western Europe is expected to outstrip North America and Asia Pacific in the number of Wi-Fi hotspots.

According to Business Week Online, the number of Wi-Fi hotspots and users continues to skyrocket, particularly in Western Europe and Asia Pacific. The latter region, with its 3.7 billion-strong population, remains the world’s largest market for Wi-Fi. But this year, Western Europe is expected to outstrip North America and Asia Pacific in the number of Wi-Fi hotspots. That is because European wireless service providers have found that offering Wi-Fi connectivity, even for free, can significantly increase customer loyalty.

Globally, there are more than 141,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in 132 countries. Top countries are the US, the UK and Germany. Taipei (2,501) tops JiWire’s list of Wi-Fi friendly cities list for having the greatest number of hotspot locations, followed by Seoul (2,056) and London (1,996). A full listing of the top ten hotspot cities and top ten countries can be found at http://usatoday.jiwire.com/ or www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm.

According to the Pew Internet & Life Project, one-third of US Internet users, either with a laptop computer, a handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) or a cell phone, have surfed the Internet or checked email using Wi-Fi broadband or cell phone networks.

One quarter (twenty-five percent) of American Internet users say they have a cell phone that connects to the Internet with a wireless connection. Among those, over half (fifty-four percent) have used it to get on the Internet. And one in eight (thirteen percent) US Internet users have a PDA that can connect to the Internet using a wireless network. Of these, most (eighty-two percent) have used it.

Wireless PDA and smart-phone sales are booming. More than forty-two million units shipped in the US during the first half of 2006, up fifty-seven percent from 2005. Most of today’s new mobile devices have built-in wireless interfaces that can be used to reach other users, corporate servers and the public Internet. Many also have expansion slots through which to add other wireless adapters. Mobile connectivity has never been easier.

ZVAN and ZBIBLE
A leader in Christian communications, Zondervan’s mission is “to meet the needs of people with resources the glorify Jesus Christ and promote biblical principles.” Meeting the needs of people who are mobile is an integral part of that mission. So Zondervan has created mobile websites (http://zvan.mobi and http://zbible.mobi) that are designed specifically for easy readability on small screens.

Zvan.mobi can be downloaded into a device as a syncable AvantGo channel (over seven million people subscribe to the free AvantGo mobile Internet service) or it can be accessed live through Wi-Fi. The site offers daily relevant material including a Bible verse, Bible passage, church word definition, church history milestone, news, sports, weather, a weekly book excerpt and author interview, emergency preparation information and timely religion news to help users stay informed and on track in their life and Christian walk. The site is also a portal of four hundred links to other mobile-friendly websites designed for the small screen. Categories of links include hotspot directories, search engines, news, technology, travel, Christianity and devotionals.

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Jonathan Petersen is director of Internet Marketing for Zondervan. He has worked in network broadcast journalism, print journalism, media relations, corporate reputation management, strategic marketing, retail and direct marketing, Internet marketing, customer relationship management and speech writing. Prior to Zondervan, he was founding religion news editor for United Press International Radio Network in Washington, D.C. (USA). He can be reached at [email protected].