Wireless broadband plans and mobile broadband sales on the up

Reports for Australia suggest that wireless broadband plans are on the up with an increase of almost 50% in the number of Australians opting for a wireless broadband plan rather than fixed broadband deal in 2009 with broadband comparison site www.broadband-expert.co.uk. The increase in wireless and mobile broadband has been mirrored in many other countries with Europe seeing an increase in wireless and mobile broadband plans sold in the first half of 2009 after levelling off later in second half of the year. In the US mobile broadband uptake has been a little slower but did show significant growth in 2009 and looks set to grow more rapidly in 2010.

Despite the growth in wireless broadband and mobile broadband, fixed broadband sales have still been strong with many people opting to take out a subscription to mobile broadband in addition to their fixed line service. One reason for this is that mobile broadband speeds are still lagging behind those of fixed services so the technology is not yet ready to fully replace current fixed line broadband services. This may change in the next 2-3 years as 4G services are introduced which promise to offer speeds comparable to the fastest cable and ADSL2 services currently available.

Other reports have suggested that mobile internet services available on phones could threaten the growth in wireless broadband and mobile with the increase in smart phones including Google’s new Nexus One likely to take sales away from mobile broadband providers. With this market becoming increasingly competitive we expect to see more developments in mobile broadband and wireless services over the next 2 years which can only be a good thing for consumers.