* In a shrinking economy, mobile broadband services are going gangbusters
One area of networking that isn’t being hampered by the global recession is mobile broadband, according to a report released this week by Infonetics Research.
The number of subscribers to mobile broadband services, more than doubled in 2008. Such services use 3G wireless technologies like W-CDMA/HSPA and CDMA2000/EV-DO, and the subscribers can be phone-based or PC-based. Infonetics says the increase in subscribers from 2007 to 2008 was 125%, hitting 210.5 million.
By 2013, that number is expected to be 1 billion.
The research firm says that HSPA went live in many parts of the world in 2008, making high-speed mobile access a reality for the first time in many areas.
Worldwide revenue from PC cards supporting mobile broadband technologies was $4.1 billion last year, and Infonetics says it should increase this year. Worldwide revenue from mobile broadband routers was up 114%.
Worldwide revenue from the mobile broadband services themselves was up 45% last year, to $49.8 billion. Infonetics says revenues should continue to see growth “in healthy double-digit percents” over the next five years.
Why would mobile broadband be growing so strongly now? You would think that the economic problems would make people think twice about the need for recurring service charges in their lives.
I think the story behind the numbers is that both broadband access to the Internet and mobility are capabilities that have become must-haves in our lives. They are no longer optional, and people around the world will make it a priority to get mobile broadband if it is available.
