Berg Insight has estimated that the number of notebook (laptop) PCs with HSPA/LTE 'Mobile Broadband' connectivity in Europe will grow from 8.4 million in 2007 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.1% to 49 million in 2013.

The development will be driven by consumer demand for ubiquitous Internet access. Rather than replacing fixed networks for Internet access, mobile broadband will first and foremost be a complementary access technology, providing a secondary Internet connection when outside of the home.

As embedded HSPA/LTE chipsets gradually become a standard feature in notebook PCs designed for the European market over the coming three to five years, end-users will simply need to insert a SIM-card into their computer to get online at virtually any location.

However, mobile operators will face a formidable challenge in managing the explosion in network utilisation. Mobile data traffic, primarily generated by USB-sticks and PC-cards, already exceeds mobile voice traffic in terms of volumes on advanced markets:


The main response by operators has been to impose some restrictions on data traffic. Furthermore, the actual data speed is normally much lower than advertised due to lack of network capacity. Significant network investments may be needed if operators want to keep up with demand.