Mobile broadband goes toe to toe with fixed line

The mobile broadband market will continue its rapid growth during the next five years, with Europe counting 148 million connections by 2014.

Figures released by analyst house Analysys Mason on Friday forecast that mobile broadband connections in Europe will account for almost half of all broadband connections, including fixed line, in the region by 2014.

Analysys reckons the usage profile of subscribers is also set to change, as more casual users adopt mobile broadband as a complement to DSL- or cable-based services. Prepaid subscriptions will also be dominant, accounting for 59 per cent of mobile broadband connections in 2014, up from 8 per cent in 2008.

Mobile broadband services are also estimated to generate service revenue of Eur23bn in Europe in 2014, compared with Eur6bn in 2008, representing a compound annual growth rate of 46 per cent. While prepaid users will account for the majority of growth in the number of connections, contract subscribers will continue to contribute most of the service revenue, at 77 per cent in 2014, the company said. Analysys estimates that mobile broadband will account for 5.7 per cent of all telecoms service revenue in Europe by the end of the forecast period, up from 1.7 per cent in 2008.

“Mobile broadband will be the key growth driver in Europe during the next five years,” said Matt Hatton, principal analyst at Analysys. “As growth in voice service revenue stagnates, mobile broadband provides operators with an opportunity to tap into a valuable new revenue stream – and they can not afford to miss out.”