49m mobile broadband-enabled laptops expected by 2013
Monday 23 June 2008
New research by Berg Insight has concluded that the number of laptop PCs enabled with HSPA/LTE Mobile Broadband connectivity in Europe will grow from 8.4 million in 2007 to 49 million in 2013. However, it was also suggested that mobile broadband will still only act as a complementary secondary internet connection rather than totally replacing fixed-line broadband.
Embedded HSPA/LTE chipsets are now becoming a standard feature in new notebook PCs, meaning that users simply have to insert a SIM card into their computer rather than sign up for, or purchase a USB dongle.
The increase in demand for mobile broadband is expected to have an effect on ISPs in two different ways said Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight: "On the one hand they have a highly attractive proposition - a novel mobile service with high ARPU. On the other hand, the very popularity of the service stretches the mobile network infrastructure to its utmost limit - threatening to degrade the level of service for all subscribers."
Ryberg also suggests that broadband users will also be able to view full-HD streaming IPTV via their Internet connection in the near future: "Then it will not do to offer 14.4 Mbps which is actually 1 Mbps of unlimited data traffic which is in reality limited to a few gigabyte per month," he stated.
Source:
ISPreview
