Telefonica is enhancing its Wi-Fi support across multinational and enterprise markets with the launch of a new service dubbed ‘Universal Wi-Fi.’

An extension of Telefonica’s Managed Mobility portfolio which provides connectivity services for business customers, the new initiative claims to offer a global Wi-Fi network consisting of 1.3 million hotspots in 110 countries thanks to support from partners including iPass, DTAG and Swisscom.

The network should remove complex connectivity processes involved when connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots around the world, according to Telefonica.

Jose Gamo, CEO of the multinationals business within Telefonica Global Solutions, said the network should support the increasing data usage of customers “with an excellent user experience and fixed data costs”.

The use of Wi-Fi to carry data for mobile devices is becoming more important as mobile networks struggle to cope with the huge increase in data they are expected to carry.

A report published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance in November said tier one mobile operators believe Wi-Fi offload will provide 22 per cent of all additional data capacity during 2013 and 2014.

Data offload currently accounts for an average of 20 per cent of a mobile operator’s data traffic.

Just over half of respondents to the research said they are more confident about investing in Wi-Fi to supplement cellular networks than they were a year ago. This confidence was attributed to an increase in hotspot deployments and more ambitious business plans from some operators.

Of the respondents planning to launch a next-generation hotspot network, data offload was cited as the most pressing driver for investment.

The European Commission recommended in August 2012 that more spectrum be set aside for Wi-Fi to ease pressure on 3G and 4G networks.

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, also warned there will be a growing demand for Wi-Fi capacity with it becoming “increasingly difficult” to find significant amounts of additional spectrum that can be fully cleared for Wi-Fi and mobile broadband.