A recent report from the mobile industry consulting group Ovum has earmarked mobile broadband as a potentially earth shattering technology for the future. The report suggests that by 2014 there will be over 2 billion mobile broadband users, both via mobile phone handsets and laptop computers, against just 181 million at the end of 2008.
However, significantly for broadband consumers around the world, the report is also suggesting that while user numbers are set to explode, we should see significant pressure on pricing plans to the benefit of consumers around the world. Even though we will see pressure on prices, the report also suggests that income from mobile broadband will be approaching a staggering $150 billion worldwide by 2014, an increase of over 450% from the 2008 level.
As you might expect from an industry which has predominantly been developed in the Far East, the Asia Pacific region is set to push sales further and further ahead before technology is rolled out into Europe and beyond. In many ways mobile broadband providers around the world are at this moment in time waiting for mobile phone handset manufacturers to catch up with the latest technology and find space for it in their handset designs.