Mobile broadband data consumption is exploding in Europe, but some operators are going to have to make some brave decisions on pricing and tariff structures if they're to avoid a fall say analysts. By Ian Scales.
Everyone knows broadand mobile is going stratospheric in all the developed markets where it's being rolled out. In North America the hero (and villain) in the piece is the iPhone which has so changed the mobile browsing habits of its owners that it's managed to clog AT&T's network, even at this early stage. AT&T simply didn't foresee the huge habit change that comes when users have dozens of mobile Internet apps under their finger-tips and are happy to use them.
The same dynamic is unfolding in other markets and with other phones, including the new crop of Android handsets currently making their way onto the market.
In Europe mobile broadband subscribers and revenues (and data demand) are set for near 100 per cent growth by 2011, according to thet European Mobile Broadband report was issued yesterday by CCS Insight and the GSMA.
Naturally, being Europe, the surge is being driven by HSPA and HSPA+ technology and over the next two years France and Spain are set for the fastest growth, says the report.
The number of subscribers in key European markets will rise from about 22 million at the end of 2009 to over 43 million in 2011, while total revenue from mobile broadband access in the major markets will rise from less than €6 billion in 2009 to more than €11 billion in 2011.
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