Mobile broadband to scoop 500 million

Take-up of mobile broadband will rocket over the coming years - but old favourite standards rather than young pretenders will dominate connectivity.

By 2010 there will be 500 million users of 'mobile broadband', according to new research from Strategy Analytics. However, just six per cent of those users will be on alternative technologies such as WiMax.

For the rest of the decade, users will be happy with the likes of HSPA - a souped-up version of 3G that promises speeds of several Mbps. Most European operators have already deployed HSDPA, the downlink version of the tech, which has a theoretical top ceiling of 1.8Mbps.

Got two seconds?

Make your voice heard - take our latest poll.

Operators are capitalising on the higher speeds such technology affords to sell the idea of accessing fixed apps on the go. Vodafone, for example, claims more than one million customers subscribe to its data service for laptop data cards, while 3 is pushing the idea of using 3G for traditional internet applications for a flat-rate fee.

Despite the relative stranglehold of HSPA and EV-DO Rev A - a standard widely used in the US - for the rest of the decade, analysts are predicting WiMax and its ilk will start see increased uptake from the next decade.

A separate report from analyst house Research and Markets reveals the Asia-Pacific region is likely to be the testbed for WiMax deployments, where lack of traditional infrastructure and a geographically dispersed population will encourage the deployment of mobile WiMax.