Study: 'Wi-B' Subscribers Increased by 84 Percent in 2008

A study by Informa Telecoms & Media finds that wireless broadband (Wi-B) usage increased about 84 percent in 2008, compared to 2007.

The study, “Future Mobile Broadband: HSPA and EV-DO to LTE (News - Alert) Networks,” covers the major driving forces in the mobile communications market.

"Mobile broadband has become one of the key growth engines for the mobile industry, with 186 million mobile broadband subscribers worldwide at the end of 2008, up 84 percent from 101 million at end-2007,” said Mike Roberts, principal analyst, Informa (News - Alert), and lead author of the study, in a release.

Roberts says by 2013 that more than 33 percent of all mobile subscribers around the world will be “Wi-B” enabled. The report indicates that the Wi-B explosion is being fueled by increased use of wired broadband networks, conveniently portable USB modem dongles that can even be fixed on key chains, and perpetually competitive wireless broadband packages with unlimited usage. The trend will be further propelled by the growing popularity of Wi-B enabled Smartphones, as reported by TMC (News - Alert).

However, the study finds that consumers will take more time to accept Long Term Evolution (LTE) products due the current recession.

"We've fully revised all our forecasts in light of the economic downturn,” said Roberts.

TMC had earlier reported a study by Maravedis that concurs about Wi-B’s increasing popularity and obtained data that suggests LTE should do reasonably well in time to come which is in concurrence with Informa’s latest and updated trend information. Comparison of Informa and Maravedis (News - Alert) reports illustrate and emphasize that while the current LTE scenario is not encouraging it will improve by 2012, and Wi-B’s march and popularity remain untouched.

"There's no doubt that the downturn will delay LTE deployments, with major operators already citing it as a key factor leading them to push LTE launch dates to 2011-12," said Roberts. "Major operators such as Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless and NTT DoCoMo are still committed to launching LTE in 2010, but the economy will still be tough then, which could hit rollout schedules and takeup.”