Almost three-quarters of households in the UK are served by wireless broadband, according to Strategy Analytics.

The market intelligence firm's connected home devices service revealed that wireless household networks have become commonplace in many countries, with Wi-Fi installations found in 439 million residences worldwide at the end of last year - equivalent to 25 per cent of all dwellings.

In 2016, the global number of households with Wi-Fi is expected to reach nearly 800 million, representing a penetration rate of 42 per cent.

Strategy Analytics claimed 73.3 per cent of UK homes had a wireless internet connection at the end of 2011, putting the country second on the list of 17 selected nations behind South Korea, which achieved an 80.3 per cent penetration rate.

Germany, France and Japan rounded out the top five with figures of 71.7, 71.6 and 68.4 per cent respectively.

China's Wi-Fi network penetration was measured at just 25 per cent during the study period, but the country is set to add another 110 million Wi-Fi households over the next five years, making it the world's biggest driver of wireless internet services.

Jia Wu, senior analyst for connected home devices at Strategy Analytics, said: "Developed broadband markets are currently the leading countries in terms of Wi-Fi household penetration. However, because of its population size, China already has the highest number of Wi-Fi households in the world, followed by USA and Japan."

Analyst Kantideep Thota added: "As most broadband growth will come from Asia Pacific, the bulk of Wi-Fi household growth will also will take place in China, India and other emerging Asia Pacific countries."

Earlier this month, Sky announced it will boost the UK's Wi-Fi footprint by launching a network of 10,000 wireless internet hotspots across the country from mid-April.

The move follows the pay TV giant's acquisition of Wi-Fi operator The Cloud last year.

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