Mobile broadband revolution continues in APAC

Ovum has also revealed that mobile broadband is meeting broadband demand while being marketed as a fixed-Data Service Lines (DSL) replacement.

Ovum analyst, Nathan Burley, claimed this mobile broadband revolution will continue unabated. He believes that wireless will become the standard mass-market broadband platform in many emerging markets with limited infrastructure, both complementing and substituting for fixed broadband in developed markets.

“Mobile broadband is achieving strong take-up, providing additional incremental revenue to operators use of advanced 3G networks’ data capabilities, and generating heavy traffic growth for relatively empty networks,” he said.

Burley believes solutions with attractive pricing are meeting user broadband and mobility demands and addressing new customers in often newly-defined segments. This provides a significant upside for mobile operators he said.

“[Mobile operators] are best-placed to benefit, with new multiple connections and improved ARPUs [average revenue per user]. We expect a mobile broadband dividend not unlike the fixed broadband dividend,” he said.

“Enablers will continue to crystallise and drive mobile broadbands rapid adoption and market share gains from fixed technologies.”

According to Burley, these enablers include technology advances, laptop penetration increases, lower-costs of equipment and devices, operators seeking more broadband exposure and demand drivers such as hyper-connectivity and broadband adoption.

Additionally, although in most circumstances fixed broadband, where available, will provide a superior user experience, mobile broadband has numerous competitive differentiators. These include mobility, its personal nature and a lower cost of deployment. Mobile broadband will also be much more than a fixed replacement due to new device categories, services and applications, he said.

Burley added that certain markets and segments are more likely to adopt wireless solutions. Broadband maturity, price, speed, penetration, usage patterns, existing infrastructure and coverage, consumer demand for mobility, laptop penetration, and disposable income are the leading factors that will determine take-up. Ovum's research indicates that emerging markets and those with dispersed populations are likely to provide the best prospects.

However, the weight placed on mobile’s differentiators varies significantly and across markets. “We believe operators should target at the following segments; low-end connectivity, no-broadband alternatives, essential anywhere access, renters and shared houses, itinerate workers, and non-home access buyers,” he said.

Burley believes other segments, such as bandwidth hungry users, should be avoided, as mobile’s capacity constraints stand to limit provision of profitable solutions at affordable price points.

apac broadband collaboration continues in mobile networking revolution