GSMA predicts massive mobile broadband growth

Rating: Circa 25 per cent of it will be streaming

The GSMA has released figures from Wireless Intelligence which show that mobile broadband in the shape of HSPA networks are expanding fast. There are now 285 commercially operating HSPA networks,  supporting more than 167.5 million connexions.

The research has also revealed that there are over 1,600 HSPA-enabled devices. The GSMA didn’t break this down into how many of these were smartphones as opposed to netbooks, laptops and PC dongles.

The amount of data traffic carried by HSPA networks will increase significantly, with mobile devices predicted to send and receive more data in one month by 2014 than in all of 2008.

What is, perhaps, most surprising is that Africa, Eastern Europe and the Americas are expected to experience the biggest growth in HSPA connexions by the end of 2009.

Figures from ABI Research’s ‘Mobile Data Traffic Analysis’ report were also quoted by the GSMA predicting that 75 per cent of mobile data traffic will be attributed to Internet access, while nearly all the remainder will be due to audio and video streaming.

This shows that there will be a strong demand for mobile applications which can support streaming rather than just Internet browsing.

Dan Warren, director of technology with the GSMA,  speculates that, “There are several key questions operators need to address when building a business case for HSPA+ and/or LTE migration.

The answers to these questions will determine whether or not they choose to deploy HSPA+ first or move straight to LTE.”  Interestingly, there are already 28 commercially live HSPA+ networks.

As Warren says, “HSPA technology continues its phenomenal growth as thousands of operators, vendors, application and service providers back the technology, ensuring the presence of a vibrant and competitive ecosystem.”

There’s also a new website showcasing this information:- www.mobileworldlive.com.

Tony is based in Surrey and is a veteran journalist he writes on the UK market…. contact him here mailto:tony@mobileinsight.co.uk