During the course of 2010, a significant milestone in terms of mobile broadband subscriptions was reached as their number surpassed the half-a-billion mark globally. Ericsson estimates that this number will double before 2011 ends, and the greatest number of subscriptions, around 400 million, is expected to be concentrated in the Asia Pacific region, followed by North America and Western Europe with more than 200 million subscriptions each, it says.
Mobile broadband adoption has accelerated with strong growth of smartphones, connected laptops and tablets, supported by the introduction of high-performance networks. Smartphones’ users are increasingly using applications and internet services on the go. Global mobile data traffic continues to grow rapidly, with Ericsson announcing in August 2010 that it had tripled in just one year.
Last year was also a good one for Long-Term Evolution (LTE). To date, Ericsson has signed commercial LTE (core and/or access) contracts with 11 operators worldwide. Almost half of a total of 16 networks Ericsson delivered have been commercially launched, and operators and consumers are starting to benefit from high-speed access enabled by LTE.
Users’ consumption of the internet and other media is changing as a result of the introduction of fast networks and the availability of various types of devices, including smartphones. According to TeliaSonera’s survey of its LTE users, about 23 percent of them now watch more online TV, and in excess of 46 percent surf the web more frequently when away from home.
Ericsson says that, due to increased speed and reduced latency, LTE networks enable video streaming which also attracts new professional users, for example TV broadcasters and public safety organizations.
By 2015, Ericsson believes mobile broadband subscriptions will top 3.8 billion, with 95 percent driven by HSPA, CDMA and LTE networks*.
Ericsson says it has been a supplier for the majority of HSPA Evolution networks operating at speeds of 21Mbps or higher.