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GSM Association: 3G Subscription Up 850%

Monday March 31, 2008 11:26 am PDT by longofest
The GSM Association (GSMA) has announced that there are now more than 32 million Mobile Broadband connections worldwide compared with just over 3 million at the end of the first quarter of 2007.

Recent figures from Wireless Intelligence, a comprehensive database covering the global mobile market, indicate that global Mobile Broadband connections have risen by more than 850 percent year-on-year (Q1 CY07 Q1 CY08). Operators in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America are all reporting an increase in the uptake of HSPA handsets currently capable of accessing the Internet at speeds ranging from 1.8Mbps to 7.2Mbps.


The report focuses on HSPA (wikipedia link), which is the GSM flavor of 3G. Apple is expected to release a 3G capable iPhone this year, possibly in June.
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neut
Posted: 51 months ago
I wonder if Clearwire subscribers are included in these figures...
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Shadowriver
Posted: 51 months ago
Remember that HSPA laptop users also counts (modems that they use are practically same as mobile phones) ;] and i think there most of that numbers ;p
But for sure 3G iPhone premiere gonna be a boom in this number for sure ^^
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sebastianlewis
Posted: 51 months ago



I wonder if Clearwire subscribers are included in these figures...
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Why would they be? The GSM Association backs W-CDMA/UMTS/HSPA for their 3G tech, not WiMAX.

Sebastian
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neut
Posted: 51 months ago

Why would they be? The GSM Association backs W-CDMA/UMTS/HSPA for their 3G tech, not WiMAX.

Sebastian


I see... although Clearwire is not quite WiMax yet. Too many damn spectral technologies; I'm getting the black shakes!
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RedTomato
Posted: 51 months ago
Is this April Fool?

8.5x rise in subscriber numbers is pretty steep.

EDIT: Just read the article. They describe a 10x rise, but it seems genuine.

With 'all you can eat' (sort-of) mobile broadband on a meteoric rise, with receivers the size of a cigarette lighter, and costing the same as a mid-range broadband connection, could this be the start of ubiquitous location aware computing?

Already on MR we're getting people trying to download giant OSX software updates via mobile phones. (and having trouble with subtle traffic manipulation by the mobile providers.)
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mkrishnan
Posted: 51 months ago

EDIT: Just read the article. They describe a 10x rise, but it seems genuine.


Right... most likely, the biggest single variable is that, every time a user who purchases smartphone services and uses a cell provider that has EDGE and HSPA upgrades their cell phone and gets a 3G one to replace an EDGE one, they're a new user in that list. So Nokia for instance has sold several million copies of the N95 so far... a significant number of those probably have data services....
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