AT&T attributes the large increase in demand to two factors: the proliferation of Wi-Fi capable devices and the expansion of the company’s Wi-Fi footprint. On the device side of things, AT&T has expanded its roster of popular Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, such as the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold, which accounted for more than 4 million connections to the company’s hot spots. The company is also offering complimentary access to any of its Wi-Fi hot spots to any user who signs up for qualifying broadband or 3G wireless plans, meaning that the number of AT&T customers with access to Wi-Fi has grown significantly.

In terms of Wi-Fi hot spots, the company aggressively expanded its Wi-Fi footprint last year when it began deploying its Wi-Fi services to 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide. AT&T also broadened the scope of its Wi-Fi business last year by purchasing Wayport, a network and applications management company that provides back-office management for Wi-Fi hot spots. In total, the Wayport acquisition and the Starbucks deal helped the company branched out its Wi-Fi footprint to roughly 20,000 locations in the United States and more than 80,000 locations around the world.

AT&T could see even more users connect to its hot spots if Apple adds the low-power 802.11n Wi-Fi standard to its iPod Touch and iPhone 3G devices. In addition to saving battery power when connecting to the Web, the 802.11n standard would also increase devices’ performance over Wi-Fi networks, as it supports dual bands and provides download speeds in the 30Mbps to 50Mbps range.

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