Research and Markets: Latest Report Forecasts That the Number of HSPA/LTE Mobile Broadband Subscriptions in EU23+2 Will Reach 48.9 Million by 2013

The European mobile broadband market is growing exponentially with demand fuelled by declining prices and improving performance. Berg Insight forecasts that the number of HSPA/LTE mobile broadband subscriptions in EU23+2 will reach 48.9 million by 2013. Get up to date with the latest developments in this 120 page report in Berg Insight's VAS Research Series.
This report will allow you to:
- Understand the dynamics of the European mobile broadband market.
- Learn about the mobile broadband strategies of leading telecom operator groups.
- Evaluate the impact of HSPA+ and LTE technology in the mobile broadband market.
- Identify the key success factors for launching HSPA broadband on the consumer market.
- Anticipate the timing for mass-market availability of embedded HSPA/LTE modems in notebook PCs.
- Profit from valuable insights about the most successful business and technology propositions on the market.
This report answers the following questions:
- What are the key drivers behind the adoption of mobile broadband in Europe?
- Which markets have the highest penetration rates and which are lagging behind?
- What are the critical success factors needed to gain mass-market traction for mobile broadband?
- Who are the leading global providers of mobile broadband terminal devices?
- What will be the future role of wireless chipset suppliers in the value chain?
- When will embedded mobile network connectivity become a standard feature in mass-market notebook PCs?
- How is fixed-mobile convergence and telecom service bundling going to affect the mobile broadband market?
- What impact will HSPA+ and LTE have on the mobile broadband market?
The European mobile broadband market continues to grow exponentially, with demand fuelled by declining prices and improving performance. Berg Insight estimates that operator revenues from mobile broadband services EU23+2 reached € 2.1 billion in 2007. Meanwhile the fixed broadband market was estimated to have generated € 29.1 billion in revenues with the 100.2 million connections at the end of 2007. Until 2013, the mobile broadband market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21.7 percent to reach € 6.8 billion. While the expected high demand from the PC-industry will lead to higher shipment volumes for embedded HSPA/LTE modules, the vast majority of new subscribers will only be occasional users generating lower network ARPU. Furthermore, multi-play propositions bundling mobile broadband with other services are likely to become prevalent.
Mobile broadband terminals are available in different forms and shapes. Four main types have emerged to satisfy different needs, PC-cards, USB-modems, embedded modules and gateways. The first phase in the development of mobile broadband was dominated by PCcards. PC-cards first emerged for WLAN access and were later adopted for mobile broadband. Huawei commercially introduced the USB modem in 2006 and the product turned out to be what most customers were looking for. In 2007 USB-modems became the dominant device on the expense of PC-cards, and all operators in Western and Central Europe offer the device with their mobile broadband proposals. Embedded modules are developed to enable integration in notebooks and other mobile devices. This type of module is becoming increasingly popular and all large notebook vendors offer models with integrated mobile broadband modules. According to the wireless industry association GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) there were 103 notebooks with integrated HSPA in Q1-2008, compared to 43 models one year earlier.
Operators can choose from three different business models for mobile broadband; postpaid subscriptions, prepaid subscriptions and bundling with other telecom services. Postpaid contracts constitute a vast majority of the total subscriptions in Europe, whereas the prepaid model has had little impact so far. Nevertheless the number of prepaid options has increased significantly. Bundles have attracted little attention so far and only a handful operators offer such deals. Mobile broadband services have several implications related to pricing, international roaming and terms of use. Fair use policies must somehow be implemented to ensure network availability and pricing must be transparent, as well as predictable to the subscribers. International roaming is still largely hindered by prohibitive pricing, making services utterly unattractive to use when abroad.
Virtually all licensed 3G operators in Europe have started to deploy HSPA. By mid-2008, HSPA networks supporting data rates up to 7.2 Mbps were commercially available in most EU countries. During the second half of 2008, the first 14.4 Mbps networks will become operational and for 2009 there are also plans to introduce even faster networks. Coverage however remains quite limited on most markets, with 3G networks largely being confined to population centres and high-speed HSPA being limited to certain hotspots. Nevertheless, the levels of adoption of mobile broadband in other regions in Europe vary significantly. In Austria and Portugal, 3G networks account for about one in four broadband connections. Italy, Sweden and Ireland have around 15 percent mobile broadband connections; Germany, Spain and the UK in the range of 5–7 percent; while less developed markets such as France have only a few percent. Most Eastern European countries have relatively high shares as well, even if overall broadband penetration rates tend to be significantly lower than in Western Europe.
Key Topics Covered:
Executive summary
1 Market environment
2 Evolved 3G network technology
3 Mobile broadband device vendors
4 Notebook PC integration
5 Operator strategies for mobile broadband
6 Market forecasts and trends
7 Market profiles: Western Europe and South Africa
Glossary
Index
List of Figures
Companies Mentioned:
- Acer
- AnyDATA
- ASUS
- BandRich
- Dell
- Deutsche Telekom
- Dialogue
- Ericsson
- France Telecom
- Fujitsu Siemens
- G Systems
- Hewlett Packard
- Huawei
- KPN Group
- Lenovo
- Novatel Wireless
- Onda Communications
- Option
- Panasonic
- Qualcomm
- Samsung Electronics
- Sierra Wireless
- Sony
- Telecom Italia
- Telefónica Group
- Telekom Austria
- TeliaSonera
- Teltonika
- Toshiba
- Vodafone Group
- ZTE
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/e685b5/hspa_broadband_eur.

Source:Hearst newspaper.