Data cards set to explode

The use of data cards will explode over the coming years, according to analysts.

At the moment, 1.2 million of the cards are in use - and analyst house IDC expects that number to grow to 5.7 million in 2008 as the market settles down and starts to see more competition exerting a downward pressure on prices.

Currently, most services are aimed at mobile workers, with T-Mobile, Vodafone and Orange all having launched business-friendly services this year. Vodafone also opened up its service to Mac users earlier this month.

O2 is thought to be making a product announcement in October.

Romolo Pusceddu, research manager for IDC's European mobile and Wi-Fi infrastructure service, said that users aren't particularly interested in the technology involved, they're more concerned with the speed, price and availability of the service. He added that operators need to think about the data service they offer to get more users on the data card bandwagon.