OYSTER BAY, NY – Global revenue for carrier Wi-Fi access points and controllers will reach $2.2 billion in 2017, eight times its current size, says ABI Research.

This level is equivalent to almost one-half of the traditional enterprise or consumer/SoHo Wi-Fi segments in the same period.

The majority of the total market in 2011 was accounted for by Cisco, Ruckus Wireless, and Ericsson/BelAir.

As traditional mobile infrastructure vendors add Wi-Fi to their portfolios, these early market share rankings will fluctuate, says the firm.

Carrier Wi-Fi is defined as Wi-Fi that is provided as a service to mobile carrier customers, owned and operated directly or indirectly by the carrier, e.g. a third party hotspot provider.