After classifying 2008 as the year when
mobile broadband took off, Danish analyst firm Strand Consult
believes that 2009 will be the year when mobile computing undergo
an evolutionary advance with the arrival of what it believes will
be premium mobile broadband services.
Looking across Europe, the analyst sees mobile broadband
cannibalising the DSL market especially in countries such as
Austria, Finland and Sweden where over 60% of general broadband
connections are mobile. In countries where mobile broadband
penetration is over 10-15%, Strand forecasts that Internet service
providers will face an
increasing number
of customers wanting to choose a mobile broadband connection
rather than a DSL connection.
Strand harbours no doubt s to the success of mobile broadband
and predicts that all the world's mobile operators will primarily
focus on mobile broadband and will gain more traction by moving
their focus away from 450 Euro expensive smart phones and over to
350 Euro portable PCs/notebooks with built-in 3G/HSDPA. Competition
will act a as a very welcome damper, for end users at least, on
rising service prices.
One key trend predicted by Strand is the concept of premium mobile
broadband with mobile broadband operators launching P billing and
an open garden strategy similar to the existing strategy deployed
for premium SMS in the mobile area in general.
Whilst uptake will likely be steady through 2009, Strand expects
such a market to explode in 2010, creating many new services
including a number of convergence services.
In terms of mobile broadband carrier technologies, Strand sees
the likely successful roadmap as GSM, UMTS and then LTE. It also
expects the market for
portable PCs with built-in mobile broadband will develop into a
revolution, with customers adopting such products on a large
scale.
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