broadband news

Will mobile broadband become more popular than home services?

This scenario is following a very similar pattern to that of desktop PCs and laptops where the sale of laptops overtook the sale of desktop PCs in October 2006 as people wanted more mobility.

With the amount of mobile broadband products increasing in number, capability and value, the option of switching from a fixed line or home broadband connection to a mobile broadband solution to access the internet is becoming more attractive.

While the current restrictions on mobile broadband speeds and data limits can be considered restrictive for those mobile internet consumers who want to access streaming video or games, for many mobile broadband laptop users the freedom of having a mobile broadband connection that is not tied to a physical location is extremely enticing. Especially when the mobile broadband dongles are not restricted to one laptop but can be plugged in to any device with a USB port.

It is also worth remembering that mobile broadband technology is on a distinctive upward development path with mobile internet providers dedicating huge amounts of investment into their mobile broadband services.

Current mobile broadband speeds average 1-2Mbps and this is adequate for email and web browsing but the introduction of next generation mobile internet technologies - such as Wi-max and LTE (Long Term Evolution) - mean mobile broadband access speeds of up to 100Mbps will soon be here.

The inclusion of hot-spot access in mobile broadband products is also an important factor which gives mobile internet users the ability to enjoy very large downloads over Wi-Fi rather than use up their mobile broadband data allowance.

When everything is taken into consideration, it is not surprising that a recent mobile broadband industry announcement predicted that mobile broadband could overtake home broadband connections in popularity as soon as 2010 - which is also when the new mobile internet technologies are expected to be established.

With the uptake in mobile broadband increasing by over 50% month-on-month during the last six months, it looks like little mobile internet dongles are the new big thing.

26/05/2008
Author: CompareBroadbandUK staff writer

Next broadband news story

Worries over how much traffic the mobile networks can handle
- The ever increasing popularity of mobile broadband has raised concerns over whether the mobile networks can cope.
26/05/2008

Read all our broadband news stories

Sign up to our broadband newsletterStay updated with our free broadband and mobile broadband newsletter.