Thanks in large part to a feature in the iPhone 3.0 that enables auto-authentication at AT&T Inc.’s 20,000 hotspots, the carrier enjoyed a 41 percent increase in Wi-Fi connections last quarter.
Almost 15 million users connected to its Wi-Fi network in places like Barnes & Noble, airports, cafes, hotels, university campuses and Starbucks, says AppleInsider, with 49 percent them doing so via smartphones. That’s compared to 25.6 million Wi-Fi connections for all of 2009 to date, and the 20 million connections AT&T reported for all of 2008.
