Global mobile broadband users will reach 3.5 billion in 2015
There will be more than 3.5 billion users worldwide to access mobile broadband in 2015, says Vestberg, the chief executive of Ericsson, the leading mobile handset manufacturer. This is nearly 9 times jump from the current figure of 400 million.
There is a huge need for telecoms services in industries like cable and TV companies, governments, healthcare, transport and utilities, he added.
Most of the mobile networks worldwide lack the capacity to provide data access to the users on their equipments like smartphones or laptops. Only five per cent of the world’s population can access faster mobile data speeds of 21Mbps, he said.
In UK, mobile operators T-Mobile, Orange, O2, 3 and Vodafone offer 3G mobile broadband speeds of up to 7.2Mbps to their customers, though the actual average speeds can be much slower depending on many factors. While the number of users is growing rapidly, most of the 3G mobile networks lack capacity to meet the consumer needs.
Global mobile broadband traffic has reached 140000 Tera Bytes in 2009, according to a survey of Ericsson. The surge in mobile data usage is being continually driven by the increased use of dongles and 3G enabled handsets. Huawei, the major mobile broadband dongle manufacturer reported 133% jump in its net profit last year, boosted by the huge demand for mobile devices.
The advanced mobile data technologies like HSPA+ and Long Term Evolution (LTE) which promise super-fast speeds and best connection have a slow rate of deployment worldwide due to the huge costs involved. There are just 56 HSPA+ networks in the world and only one operator, (TeliaSonera in Sweden) who offers LTE based 100Mbps mobile broadband service to its cutomers.
Dan Warren, director of Technology at the GSM Association expects many mobile broadband providers will follow TeliaSonera by switching to HSPA+ or LTE as the future needs cannot just be met with the current 3G based mobile networks.
Last December, O2 Mobile UK tested LTE technology at its headquarters in Slough by sending mobile data at a speed of 150Mbps. The ISP has also planned to launch similar trials in other European countries where it has operations.
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