Mobile Broadband

The United Kingdom, along with France and Indonesia have some of the cheapest priced mobile broadband services in the world according to a new study undertaken by ABI Research.

ABI Research compared mobile broadband pricing across a number of different countries including Indonesia, where a 4GB data plan costs as little as £11 ($17) a month.

In the UK, mobile operator 3 are currently offering their 5GB mobile broadband service priced at £15 a month.

The study also highlighted that mobile operators in other developed markets like the UK are still struggling to cope with the increasing data demands placed upon their networks.

“AT&T’s adoption of tiered data pricing is already seen in many European markets, and will signal the end of ‘unlimited’ data bundles,” says ABI Research analyst Bhavya Khanna.

It is hoped that the future Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technology (which could be seen in the UK as early as 2011/12), will help to better manage mobile network capacity and produce a faster and more reliable service.

The Government have today announced plans to auction off sections of radio spectrum (made available by the switch over to digital TV), to make way for the next generation of super fast mobile broadband services.

It is believed that the sale will take place in late 2011, which means that these new next generation mobile services could be a reality as early as 2012.

The new Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology has previously had trials across Europe, with the first UK trial currently under way in Cornwall.

Launching the “spectrum modernisation”, communications minister Ed Vaizey commented:

The past 20 years has seen a revolution in mobile technologies – but we need the networks to continue to improve and increase services. Under our plans, our mobile industry will have access to the 21st Century infrastructure it needs to give UK consumers the latest technologies and even better coverage for broadband on their mobile phones.

The combined auction of 2.1 Ghz and 800 Mhz spectrum will be coordinated as soon as media regulator Ofcom has carried out “a competitive assessment of future 3G and 4G markets, including the potential for new entrants”, according to the Government.

The advanced in new mobile broadband technologies could be a god-send for rural communities who are currently struggling with either poor connection speeds or have no broadband access at all.

Previous trials of the LTE mobile broadband networks have recorded top speeds of around 150Mb, but reality it is believed that speeds between 12-15MB are more likely.

Web-enabled smartphones have seen sales soar by 43% this quarter when compared to the same period in 2009.

According to a Strategy Analytics report authored by Neil Mawston, sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2010 hit a record 60 million units worldwide.

“Healthy operator subsidies, vigorous competition between premium tier vendors and a growing range of lower-cost models continued to drive the upswing.”

Whilst many mobile operators and manufacturers will no doubt be happy with the boom in smartphone sales, it isn’t good news for everyone. The report shows Apple have slipped from 16% to 15% market share when compared to Q1 2010.

Apple are still up on the same time a year ago, however, when its share was 12.5%, and these second quarter figures don’t include the iPhone 4 sales, which won’t impact until the third quarter, Cnet reports Mawston as stating.

Nokia still remains top, with a market share of 40%, followed by RIM holding a steady second place with 19%.

Mobile broadband services across the UK look likely to exceed their available capacity claims Ed Richards, chief executive at the media regulator Ofcom.

Mr Richards has warned that the ever increasing use of mobile broadband dongles and the rise in web-enabled smartphones use is putting a severe pressure on mobile networks in the UK.

As more and more consumers use mobile broadband services to download media-rich content Mr Richards suggests that we are nearing “the beginnings of a capacity pinch”, as the UK runs out of available spectrum upon which to provide mobile services.

“While demand is booming – mobile data usage has grown by more than 1,800 per cent in the UK in the past two years – the frequencies, or spectrum, upon which it and so many other similar services are carried have not,” Mr Richards commented.

Mr Richards’ comments come just days after research firm Infonetics Research predicted that by 2014, there will be more than 1.8 billion people using mobile broadband services around the world.

The first UK trial of high speed mobile broadband using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology is now under way in Cornwall.

Mobile operator Clear Mobitel is making use of the airwave spectrum that has been freed up thanks to the switch from analogue TV to digital services in that area. This allows them to provide fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband services to the region.

CEO and founder of Clear Mobitel, Harpal Mann, said: “The purpose of the trial is to assess the performance of LTE to provide viable solutions in providing high speed broadband services to the rural consumer.”

“This is not just a trial of rural broadband solutions based on LTE for Cornwall, it is a trial which has global ramifications for rural economies that have been shattered by the effects of the global recession.”

Taking place in the Caradon Hill area of Cornwall, Mann expects the 4G technology to deliver rural mobile broadband speeds of between 12Mb and 15Mb in the trial.

Currently, the limit for delivering a broadband connection using conventional copper wire lines is a distance of 5km from the nearest telephone exchange. This can cause rural areas to have poor or non-existent internet access.

Mobile broadband on the other hand operates via the mobile phone network and therefore doesn’t rely on a fixed line connection. The hope is that the increased mobile broadband speed offered by 4G will enable more users in rural areas to have access to a high speed broadband connection.

A new study by Infonetics Research has revealed that by the year 2014, mobile broadband services will be used by 1.8 billion people worldwide.

The study has also revealed that by 2014 there will be 153 million subscribers to long term evolution (LTE) services, thanks in part to the high concentration of European mobile operators with strong HSPA coverage.

Commenting on the study, Infonetics Research’s Principal Analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure, Stephane Teral, said “fast-rising mobile broadband revenues are helping to offset declines in both voice and SMS.”