Mobile broadband revenue to double in 4yrs

LONDON, UK: Global service provider revenue from mobile broadband services is forecast to more than double between 2009 and 2013. Manufacturer revenue from mobile broadband cards is forecast to hit $8.4 billion worldwide by 2013.

This is according to market research firm Infonetics Research's new edition of its Mobile Broadband Cards, Routers, Services, and Subscribers report, which tracks W-CDMA/HSPA, CDMA2000/EV-DO, and LTE mobile broadband equipment.

Richard Webb, directing analyst, WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices, Infonetics Research, said: “Huawei leads revenue market share in the fast-growing mobile broadband card market, based on healthy HSPA and EV-DO shipments and a broad mix of PC card and embedded card formats. Several other vendors are doing well in this market as well, including Sierra Wireless, ZTE, Novatel, Sony-Ericsson, and Option."

The mobile broadband card market grew 10 percent sequentially in the first half of 2009, driven by increasing adoption of HSPA and demand for netbooks. Worldwide, the number of mobile broadband subscribers is expected to near 1 billion by 2013 (including phone and PC based W-CDMA/HSPA, CDMA2000/EV-DO, and LTE subscribers). Mobile subscriber growth is being fueled by people seeking basic voice service, particularly in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China), all migrating to 3G, which in turn will drive mobile broadband subscriber adoption

"As mobile broadband spreads to developing countries, we expect Huawei and ZTE to improve their market share, as both vendors perform strongly in these markets,” he notes.

CDMA operators have been quicker off the blocks with mobile broadband, rolling out EV-DO earlier than GSM operators upgraded their networks to W-CDMA/HSPA, resulting in significantly higher CDMA2000/EV-DO mobile broadband card adoption.