A new report from consultancy firm IDATE has predicted that global mobile internet penetration ( Mobile Broadband ) will grow from just over 20% in 2010 to reach 37% - or 2.67 Billion users - by 2015. The service will then generate access revenues of GBP139bn (161bn Euros).


In terms of Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), IDATE estimates that mobile connectivity devices (e.g. USB Modems / Dongles) generate more than double that of Smartphone's, yet the number of their shipments are lower than 10% of mobile phones.

However, the traffic volume created for each modem is higher, especially in light of the fact that the pricing for these modems is much lower compared to Smartphone's. Most phones are also not used for tethering and tend to consume smaller quantities of data, while USB Modems are often used like a fixed-line ISP alternative.

IDATE also predicts that the growth of new Tablet computers (iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab etc.) will not have much of an impact, largely because it expects consumers to make more use of the embedded Wi-Fi than 3G connectivity.