Wi-Fi Accounts for More than Half of Mobile Connection Time, in More than 50% of Countries

In the Netherlands, close to 75 percent of the total mobile connections OpenSignal measured were connected using Wi-Fi networks, and in 46 countries (almost half of the sample), smartphone users spent more than half of their time connected using Wi-Fi.

“The big question is how long its outsized influence will continue,” OpenSignal rhetorically asks.

“As more countries push the boundaries of 4G technology — and adopt new 5G technologies in the future — the perceived differences between the two technologies may disappear,” OpenSignal says. “On a smartphone at least, there's nothing to distinguish a 30 Mbps 4G connection from a 50-100 Mbps Wi-Fi connection.”

The obvious observation is that “price” is a key consideration. Wi-Fi “will have a cost advantage for some time,” OpenSignal says. “As long as the price per mobile gigabyte remains high while free Wi-Fi is readily available, consumers will keep using Wifi to augment their mobile data services.”