Mobile Broadband Adoption to Grow Relentlessly Across Europe, Pyramid Research Finds

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts - In spite of the economic slowdown, mobile broadband adoption will continue to grow relentlessly across Europe, boosted by the introduction of 3G+ and 4G, expanding device selection and usability, and the gains mobile networks are making in affordability and pricing, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Europe to See Huge Growth in Mobile Broadband Services despite Recession analyzes the growth potential of mobile broadband computing in Europe, focusing on the three main factors affecting adoption: networks, user devices, and pricing. This 16-page report looks in detail at the four markets that best represent the different regions of Europe: Poland, Russia, Spain, and the U.K. Download an excerpt of this report here: www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=5&sc=PR051209_INEUR1.3

Thanks to the right conditions existing in Europe — including the wide availability and high quality of mobile broadband, attractive pricing, and user-friendly devices — the number of European mobile broadband users will reach 116.6 million in 2014, up from 24.3 million in 2008, notes Bakhyt Weeks, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. “It has been a while since we saw an opportunity this big in European mobile communications,” she says.

Surging demand for Internet mobility is driving deployments and upgrades of broadband-capable mobile networks. “With operators announcing 3G, 3G+, and LTE rollouts, spending on networks upgrades is expected to be stable in spite of the economic slowdown,” says Weeks.

Mobile broadband devices are ready for the mass market. “A wide range of broadband devices that are easy to use and attractive are now available from mobile operators, including a growing selection of WiMax and CDMA EVDO devices,” Weeks says. “This allows operators to move into the mass market; most devices are now subsidized and therefore affordable,” she explains.

As a full-blown, mass-market push for mobile broadband drives down prices, mobile broadband is becoming competitive against basic fixed broadband across Europe. “Also, the recent emergence of prepaid mobile broadband offers is likely to attract business users who travel or commute a lot, as well as others who value mobility,” Weeks says. “In lower-income markets, prepaid plans open the door to mobile broadband for those who do not have access to broadband-capable fixed infrastructure and cannot commit to lengthy postpaid mobile broadband contracts.”

Europe to See Huge Growth in Mobile Broadband Services despite Recession is part of Pyramid Research’s Europe Telecom Insider report series. Telecom Insiders are packed with trend analysis, industry best practices, market sizing and forecasting, competitor analysis, and case studies, providing you information you can leverage to make better business decisions.

Download an excerpt of this report here: www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=5&sc=PR051209_INEUR1.3

Europe to See Huge Growth in Mobile Broadband Services despite Recession is priced at US$595 and can be purchased online here: www.pyramidresearch.com/store/ins_eur_090501.htm?sc=PR051209_INEUR1.3 or by contacting Jeff Claudino via email at claudino@pyr.com or telephone at +1-619-229-9940.

About Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries — a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry’s most comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology analysis.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the US$3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading’s research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than US$2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM’s businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities — from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists — with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

Press contact: Jennifer Baker +1 617 871-1910 jbaker@pyr.com

Source: Pyramid Research

Jennifer Baker, +1-617-871-1910, jbaker at pyr.com