The latest research from analyst firm Berg Insight has revealed that HSPA Mobile Broadband technology (up to 14.4Mbps) accounted for 11.6% of total broadband connections in Europe at the end of 2008. The number of related Mobile Broadband subscribers (connected PCs) grew by 74% year-on-year in 2008 to reach 14.6 million and is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% to 70 million in 2014.

By comparison the North American market has evolved at a slower pace, with Mobile Broadband accounting for just 4.5% of total broadband connections. Between 2008 and 2014, the North American market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43% to reach 35 million subscribers.


For those not in the know, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is one of two ( the other is mobile WiMAX ) technologies being targeted to deliver next generation 4G Mobile Broadband services. Download rates of anywhere from 100Mbps to over 300Mbps would be possible with either technology.

However, despite the rapid improvements, bandwidth hungry applications such as IPTV are still predicted to require fixed broadband lines due to the restricted capacity in mobile networks caused by limited availability of frequencies.