CCS Insight Report Predicts Explosive European Growth For Mobile Broadband

 A  report released January 13 by global mobile consultancy CCS Insight predicts the European mobile broadband market will see subscriber and revenue numbers nearly double by 2011. The report said total mobile broadband subscribers are expected to rise from about €22 million at the end of 2009 to over €43 million in 2011 and total revenue from mobile broadband access in major European markets to increase to more than €11 billion by 2011, up from €6 billion in 2009.

 "Competition will have a huge impact on the growth of mobile broadband across Europe - both in terms of increasing subscriber numbers and the average revenue operators will see from each subscriber,"  Shaun Collins, managing director at CCS Insight, said in a prepared statement. "In this market, we expect to see not only growth, but also changes in the dynamic across Europe as the countries currently with the least Mobile Broadband penetration - France and Spain - experience the fastest growth in subscribers in the coming years." 

Key points in the CCS Insight report include:

• In Italy, most access is charged by the minute, while operators elsewhere, particularly in the UK, have largely adopted flat-rate, all-you-can-eat models
• Among Europe's major markets, the highest charging countries for mobile broadband are France, where 4GB of data can cost a subscriber almost €85 a month, and Germany, where subscribers can pay €45 for each gigabyte of data.
• The UK is the least expensive mobile broadband in the top five markets, due to fierce competition. Subscribers can pay less than €17 a month for 3GB of data traffic, and less than €5 for each gigabyte of data.
• France and Spain will see the fastest growth in mobile broadband users, and the advent of new subscribers - and a fourth operator in France - will be accompanied by a reduction in average charges.
• The most common allowances across Europe are 1GB, 3GB and 5GB a month