InformationWeek's W. David Gardner reports today that "many U.S. wireless subscribers would switch cellular carriers to take advantage of Wi-Fi capability," according to a study by ABI Research and the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Among 1,223 U.S. wireless subscribers surveyed, 25 percent said they'd switch carriers to get cheaper mobile data services at home, 25 percent said they'd switch to get better signal coverage at home, and 24 percent said they'd switch to get cheaper phone calls at home.

"The market research firm predicted that many U.S. wireless carriers will launch Wi-Fi/ convergence programs in the coming months," Gardner writes. "A major convergence event is expected in June when Apple Inc. is expected to begin shipping its iPhone, which has Wi-Fi capability."

"Convergence presents carriers with a compelling opportunity to build subscriber loyalty and migrate more users to mobile applications such as e-mail, Web surfing and multimedia downloads," says ABI analyst Philip Solis.

More here from iTWire ... and the Wi-Fi Alliance's press release is here.