High Speed Internet Access (HSIA): Mobile Internet

Ofcom, an independent organisation which regulates and reports on the UK telecommunications industry has released findings on telecommunications usage from 2002 to 2007. It shows that the use of the Internet and particularly mobile broadband has increased dramatically in that period. The time spent on PCs and laptops increased four-fold and there was a huge increase in the sale of dongles for accessing mobile broadband.

Consumers in the UK are finding it easier to access broadband both at home and on the move and are turning to mobile broadband products in droves.

The report also found that people pay less for broadband access now than they did a couple of years ago. This was attributed to three factors:

• Bundling – People are purchasing more than one service from a provider in a bundled package, such as broadband, mobile phone and landline. This usually works out cheaper than buying each product separately
• Lower Prices – costs for mobile broadband are coming down all the time with increased competition between providers to get market share
• Bargain hunting – consumers are willing to shop around for the latest mobile broadband deals and offers and are becoming more likely to switch providers to get a better deal.

Ireland is also showing the same trends. A recent report indicated that mobile broadband subscriptions were up 400% in the last year (up to June 2008). This figure took the overall broadband penetration rate up to 24.3%. If you take away the figures for mobile broadband the penetration would be 19.2% so it shows how popular mobile broadband is particularly for new subscribers to broadband.

Broadband penetration in Australia is expected to grow significantly over the next couple of years and the same mobile broadband increases are likely.

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