More than one billion to enjoy mobile broadband by 2012

The number of people taking advantage of the benefits of mobile broadband will exceed one billion by 2012, with high-speed packet access (HSPA) contributing more than 70 per cent to this increased popularity, according to Juniper Research.

Over the next five years, almost one in three mobile subscribers will make use of mobile broadband, driven by demand from connectivity-hungry users in Western Europe, North America and to an extent, China and the Far East, claims the analyst, who is predicting that the associated total revenue for mobile broadband services will top $400 billion globally, annually during the same time frame.

But, it's not all good news. The availability - or lack of - suitable devices, such as handsets, data cards, laptops and so on, may prove a big factor in determining just how rapidly the technology is adopted in practice as mobile broadband is a device-based technology, according to Juniper's report entitled 'Mobile Broadband Markets: EV-DO, WiMAX, HSPA & Beyond 2007-2012.'

"HSPA's in-service status in 2007 makes it already the most advanced mobile broadband technology, with many further deployments due in the near and medium term. For the 3G service provider base, HSPA represents a software upgrade rather than a new network investment. HSPA will also benefit from technology 'leap' subscribers in the developing nations, and handset churn elsewhere, with users migrating to HSPA-based broadband as the norm," said the report's author Howard Wilcox.

"Over the last year there has been significant activity in the mobile WiMAX market, including many trials and contract announcements by leading vendors and operators. Mobile WiMAX is now positioned to achieve a single digit per cent proportion of the global mobile broadband subscriber base by 2012. This will represent a significant attainment for this new mobile platform. We believe that the WiMAX market will see substantial growth after 2012, as new networks are built out and new applications are adopted."

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