Juniper Research forecasts that HSPA will dominate mobile
broadband network deployments over the next five years,
consistently accounting for about 70% of the total mobile broadband
subscriber base until 2012.
According to a report 'Mobile Broadband Markets: EV-DO, WiMAX, HSPA
& Beyond 2007-2012' , nearly 1 in 3 mobile subscribers will
use a mobile broadband connection by 2012, representing over one
billion users.
The market will be driven by demand from North America, Western
Europe and to a lesser extent by the Far East and China. However,
Juniper says that the main gating issue that will dictate take-up
for this technology will be the availability of suitable devices –
whether handsets, laptops, data cards, or other types of device
such as media players. Mobile broadband will be a device-based
technology.
Report author Howard Wilcox said: "HSPA’s in-service status in 2007
makes it already the most advanced mobile broadband technology,
with many further deployments due in the near and medium term.
For the 3G service provider base, HSPA represents a software
upgrade rather than a new network investment. HSPA will also
benefit from technology 'leap' subscribers in the developing
nations, and handset churn elsewhere, with users migrating to
HSPA-based broadband as the norm.”
Howard Wilcox added that even though there had been significant
activity in the mobile WiMAX market, including many trials and
contract announcements by leading vendors and operators, growth
would be relatively slow. He said, “Mobile WiMAX is now positioned
to achieve a single digit percent proportion of the global mobile
broadband subscriber base by 2012. This will represent a
significant attainment for this new mobile platform. We believe
that the WiMAX market will see substantial growth after 2012, as
new networks are built out and new applications are adopted.”
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