High Speed Internet Access (HSIA): Mobile Broadband

The hype surrounding the iPhone launch has been fascinating. It will be interesting to see whether it was primarily a great marketing success or whether the iPhone filled a gap in the market and will be a catalyst for much broader take up of mobile broadband services.

A couple of surveys in the UK and the US have been conducted recently to see how many people are using mobile broadband and to get some indication of future usage by asking how many people have an interest in mobile broadband. I’m not aware of any similar studies in Australia.

In the UK, around 6% of the population use mobile broadband. The survey asked whether participants had an interest in being able to access the Internet while on the move and 62% expressed a desire to be able to do this. Whether this translates into those people actually purchasing mobile broadband plans and devices remains to be seen.

In the US, research by comscore revealed that 1% of the population uses mobile broadband but these figures are expected to increase dramatically.

There are many driving forces for mobile broadband:

• Workplace are more flexible and work opportunities are far more diverse than they ever were. Many more people are starting their own businesses and the Internet is often a vital part of new businesses.
• There is increasing pressure to get more done each day. The need to be constantly aware of what is happening even outside of work hours is increasing. The lines between work hours and leisure hours are becoming blurred. While this might not be a particularly desirable thing it’s becoming a part of our work culture.
• There are more things to do online now with the popularity of social media applications like facebook, twitter and forums for every topic you can think of. There are also many more applications such as video, music and GPS.
• The growing number of people engaging in social media activities feel left out if they’re not participating at all times wherever they are. Mobile broadband becomes more like a necessity than a nice to have, similar to SMS.
• There is a resistance to the long term contracts for fixed broadband. People are more mobile generally. They move house and their needs change.
• There are some genuine alternatives now to the current scenario of people having fixed broadband at home and each member of the household having a mobile phone for calls. People are more likely to get a mobile broadband plan rather than just a phone plan.

There are inhibitors to the mass take up of mobile broadband:

• The cost and the complexity of mobile broadband plans
• The capabilities of devices in terms of ease of use, battery power and portability. The iPhone design bridges the gap between sending emails via a phone and lugging around a laptop. The iPhone is more like a small computer than a phone.
• There is a sense that better things are on the horizon both in terms of devices and plans. It is speculated that 3 will get the iPhone later this year so there will be another choice when considering plans. Also there is likely to be a lot of competiton in the device space. All of this must contribute to people holding off making a decision for fear of commiting too early and paying over the odds for something inferior when there will be more choice at cheaper prices further down the track.
• The coverage outside the major metropolitan areas is currently limited.

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• Optus iPhone Plan Details
• Telstra reveals some pricing details for the iPhone launch
• Mobile Broadband Price Wars
• Blackberry Bold versus 3G iPhone
• Cancellation Fees for Mobile Broadband