Mobile Broadband Revolution to Continue Unabated

(Business News & Technology News, 20 May 2008)

Mobile broadband is achieving strong take-up, providing additional incremental revenue to operators, use of advanced 3G networks' data capabilities, and generating heavy traffic growth for relatively empty networks. Solutions with attractive pricing are meeting user broadband and mobility demands and addressing new customers in often newly defined segments.

Ovum sees significant upside for mobile operators, which are best-placed to benefit, with new multiple connections and improved ARPUs. The market analyst firm expects a mobile broadband dividend not unlike the fixed broadband dividend.

Enablers will continue to crystallise and drive mobile broadband's rapid adoption and market share gains from fixed technologies. These enablers include technology advances, laptop penetration increases, lower-costs of equipment and devices, operators seeking more broadband exposure, and demand drivers such as hyperconnectivity and broadband adoption.

Additionally, although in most circumstances fixed broadband, where available, will provide a superior user experience, mobile broadband has numerous competitive differentiators. These include mobility, its personal nature and lower cost of deployment. Mobile broadband will also be much more than a fixed replacement with new device categories, services and applications.

Certain markets and segments are more likely to adopt wireless solutions. Broadband maturity, price, speed, penetration, usage patterns, existing infrastructure and coverage, consumer demand for mobility, laptop penetration, and disposable income are leading factors that will determine take-up. As such, our research shows emerging markets, and those with dispersed populations are likely to provide the best prospects.

However, the weight placed on mobile's differentiators varies significantly and across markets. We believe operators should target at the following segments; low-end connectivity, no-broadband alternatives, essential anywhere access, renters and shared houses, itinerate workers, and non-home access buyers. However, other segments, such as bandwidth hungry users, should be avoided as mobile's capacity constraints limit provision of profitable solutions at affordable price points.

Click here for more information on Ovum