Key Highlights:

• Mobile broadband is becoming increasingly important to mobile operator strategies, as the evolution of HSPA provides a business case for 3G technologies. With such a large addressable market, and made more so by the fact that unlike fixed broadband systems, mobile broadband services are aimed at individual consumers rather than households, Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts rapid growth in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions. At the end of 2007, there were approximately 2.88m mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide. Our estimates suggest that this figure will grow to 330m by the end of 2010 and to 1.3bn at the end of 2013.
• Mobile broadband services will contribute significantly to the ongoing rise in mobile data revenues. With total mobile revenues set to experience a slowdown over the next five years, it is important that this is the case. In 2007, data revenues comprised 23% of total mobile revenues, and our forecasts suggest this will rise to 34% in 2012, with the fastest growth in data as a percentage of overall revenues coming from Europe, North America and Asia.
• Average monthly charges for residential and business mobile broadband contract services range from US$35 to US$60 per month (excluding prepaid offers). Eastern European operators offer the lowest monthly charge overall (US$35.38), followed by those in Asia Pacific region (US$42.98), whilst the highest monthly charges can be found in Africa (US$59.67) followed by the Americas (US$53.46). The global average is US$48.73.
• Mobile broadband growth in the UK is being driven by the rise in prepaid users of mobile broadband services. In February 2008, fewer than 10% of new subscribers opted for a prepaid service, but by June 2008, this percentage had increased to 24%.
• Central to operator strategy in Japan is the implementation of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) with NTT DoCoMo and Softbank allowing their customers to make cheaper voice and data calls using fixed broadband networks. Both operators are also trialling femtocell technology with the likelihood that their commercial release will drive the growth of FMC and blur the distinction between fixed and mobile broadband.
• Unlike any of the other markets covered, mobile broadband is the primary access to broadband services for many African users, and is in high-growth mode, and as a result, we expect a total of over 50m mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa by the end of 2013. Mobile broadband does, however, remain a high-end user service with the price of tariffs and devices still above average affordability levels in the region.

Key issues addressed:

• What technologies are in deployment now to deliver mobile broadband and what are the drivers for deploying 3G+?
• Will mobile broadband act as a substitution for fixed-line broadband or is it just a secondary means of connecting to the Internet when on the move?
• Does the introduction of mobile broadband require new business models and can mobile operators make money out of mobile broadband?
• What is mobile broadband used for and which applications will help drive take-up of mobile broadband as opposed to mobile dial-up (2G/2.5G)?
• What is the addressable market for mobile broadband? Is it as large as the mobile voice subscription market, or will it just appeal to the contract mobile subscription market, high-income users and the corporate segment?

Market Data Covered:

• Global and regional mobile broadband subscriptions 2007-2013
• Global mobile voice and data revenues
• Global & regional mobile broadband average contract costs
• Mobile broadband deployments by technology
• Fixed broadband subscription numbers by region
• HSPA/EV-DO subscription numbers, Africa 2005-2013
• HSPA/EV-DO/TD-SCDMA subscription numbers, Asia Pacific 2005-2013
• HSPA/EV-DO subscription numbers, Eastern Europe 2005-2013
• HSPA/EV-DO subscription numbers, Western Europe 2005-13
• HSPA subscription numbers, Middle East 2005-2013
• HSPA/EV-DO subscription numbers, Latin America 2005-2013
• HSPA/EV-DO subscription numbers, North America 2005-2013
• Mobile broadband service tariffs, 3Q08 - UK, Hungary, Poland, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa

Markets Covered:

• UK
• Hungary
• Poland
• Japan
• Hong Kong
• South Africa
• Nigeria

Who should read this report

• Operators
• Vendors
• ISPs
• Content Providers
• Financial Institutions
• Consultancies
• Government
• Regulators