AT&T reports 85.5M WiFi connections in 2009

AT&T reported this week that its customers made a record 85.5 million Internet connections via its WiFi network in 2009, four times the number of WiFi connections made in 2008, when WiFi-enabled devices weren't as widespread.

During the fourth quarter of 2009, AT&T customers made 35.3 million WiFi connections, an increase of 10 million connections from the third quarter. Fourth-quarter connections also exceeded the number of connections made in the entire first half of 2009.

AT&T said the majority of connections in 2009 came from smartphones, like the iPhone, and integrated devices. These devices accounted for 72 percent of fourth-quarter connections and 61 percent of the total connections in 2009. Most, if not all, AT&T smartphones include automatic authentication on the company's WiFi networks.

For more:
- see this AT&T release [1]

Related articles:
AT&T, Verizon bolster WiFi offerings [2]
AT&T reports WiFi surge as more devices support auto-authentication [3]
Operators embracing WiFi, but how far will they go? [4]