The main differences are range and speed. Signals from the iZZi user terminal can be picked up several kms away by one of the iZZi network base stations. By contrast, a hotspot has a range of only a few tens of metres , but its transfer speeds are higher. This means that the iZZi service is able to provide ubiquitous coverage to users, not just near a hotspot.

In the scenario of an office or a home environment, hotspot is ideal. However, it does not work well with wide area, public communications access.

This is firstly due to its range of up to a maximum of 50 metres, limiting it generally to one premise such as a home, office or a cafe.

Authorising users for access is another impediment. Due to the haphazard way hotspot public access points are being deployed, allowing for a user to identify themselves and pay for the service is proving to be a severe challenge for service providers and results in great inconvenience for the user.

In contrast, iZZi has much greater range and thus blankets entire metropolitan areas so the customer can expect coverage where they are rather than have to seek out hotspot locations. Billing is centralised and standardised as the network is being run and coordinated by one company for the entire country.