More support for the proposition that the
mobile computing market looks on an unstoppable upwards curve
comes with a report from Analysys Mason suggesting that there will
be nearly 150 million mobile broadband connections in Europe by
2014.
According to Mobile broadband in Europe: forecasts and analysis
2009–2014, there will be 148 million mobile broadband connections
in Europe by 2014, accounting for almost half of all European
broadband connections.
Yet in addition to predicting that the broadband market will
grow, the analyst predicts a commensurate evolution in the usage
profile of subscribers as more casual users adopt mobile broadband
as a complement to DSL- or cable-based services, usually opting for
prepaid subscriptions rather than the commitment of a monthly
contract. Prepaid subscriptions, said the analyst, will likely
account for 59% of mobile broadband connections in 2014, up from 8%
in 2008.
“
Mobile broadband will be the key growth driver in Europe during
the next five years,” argued Matt Hatton, Principal Analyst and
author of the report. “As growth in voice service revenue
stagnates, mobile broadband provides operators with an opportunity
to tap into a valuable new revenue stream – and they can not afford
to miss out.”
Analysys Mason believes that Mobile broadband services will
generate service revenue of EUR23 billion in Europe in 2014. This
compares with EUR6 billion in 2008, which in itself represented a
compound annual growth rate of 46%. While prepaid users will likely
account for the majority of growth in the number of connections,
contract subscribers should continue to contribute most of the
service revenue, at 77% by 2014. Analysys Mason estimates that
mobile broadband will account for 5.7% of all telecoms service
revenue in Europe by the end of the forecast period, up from 1.7%
in 2008.
“The key development in the mobile broadband market during the next
five years will be the growing proportion of casual users,” added
Hatton. "These subscribers will have different usage profiles from
the early adopters and landline-replacement users who have
dominated the customer base until now.”
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