Editing Wi-Fi hotspot (section)

==History==
[[File:CDSC wifi Classon jeh.jpg|thumb|Public park in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] has free Wi-Fi from a local corporation.]]

Public access wireless [[local area network]]s (LANs) were first proposed by Henrik Sjoden at the NetWorld+Interop conference in The [[Moscone Center]] in San Francisco in August 1993.<ref>[http://wifinetnews.com/archives/2002/08/wi-fi_timeline.html Wi-Fi Timeline]. Wifi Net News. August 8, 2002.</ref> Sjoden did not use the term "hotspot" but referred to publicly accessible wireless LANs.

The first commercial venture to attempt to create a public local area access network was a firm founded in Richardson, Texas known as PLANCOM (Public Local Area Network Communications). The founders of the venture, Mark Goode, Greg Jackson, and Brett Stewart dissolved the firm in 1998, while Goode and Jackson created [[MobileStar|MobileStar Networks]]. The firm was one of the first to sign such public access locations as Starbucks,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2001/0625starbucks.html |title=Starbucks wireless network a sweet deal for MobileStar |last=Marsan |first=Carolyn Duffy |date=25 June 2001 |access-date=13 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015115807/http://www.networkworld.com/news/2001/0625starbucks.html |archive-date=15 October 2013 }}</ref> American Airlines,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/American+Airlines+and+MobileStar+Network+to+Deliver+Wireless+Internet...-a062020227 |title=American Airlines and MobileStar Network to Deliver Wireless Internet Connectivity to American's Passengers |work=[[PR Newswire]] |date=11 May 2000 |access-date=13 April 2013}}</ref> and Hilton Hotels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4001187.html |title=MobileStar Network to Supply U.S. Hilton Hotels With Wireless High-Speed Internet Access |date=28 October 1998 |access-date=13 April 2013}}</ref> The company was sold to Deutsche Telecom in 2001, who then converted the name of the firm into "T-Mobile Hotspot". It was then that the term "hotspot" entered the popular vernacular as a reference to a location where a publicly accessible wireless LAN is available.

[[ABI Research]] reported there was a total of 4.9 million global Wi-Fi hotspots in 2012.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.abiresearch.com/press/growing-demand-for-mobility-will-boost-global-wi-f |title= Demand for Mobility will Boost Global Wi-Fi Hotspots to Reach 6.3 Million in 2013|website= ABI Research}}</ref> In 2016 the [[Wireless Broadband Alliance]] predicted a steady annual increase from 5.2m public hotspots in 2012 to 10.5m in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jinia|first1=Irashe|title=Don't Buy AT&T Internet Plans Until You Read This!|url=http://internet.realitytvcalendar.com/att-internet-plans.html|website=internet.realitytvcalendar.com|access-date=28 December 2016}}</ref>