James Delahunty
11 Jan 2011 12:51
Ericsson, the world's largest mobile network equipment manufacturer, has said mobile broadband subscriptions will hit 1 billion in 2011.
The new milestone would come only months after mobile broadband subscriptions hit 500 million in 2010. Ericsson estimates the figure will double before the end of the year, with the Asia Pacific region accounting for most of the growth, hitting 400 million subscriptions.
Both North America and Europe will account for about 200 million each. 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.
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.