Someone thinks that mobile broadband is replacing HotSpots – and without a doubt. Says here.
As mobile broadband takes off, WiFi hotspots will become as irrelevant as telephone booths, Ericsson chief marketing officer Johan Bergendahl said.
Mobile broadband is growing faster than mobile or fixed telephony ever did, Bergendahl said: “In Austria they are saying that mobile broadband will pass fixed broadband this year. It’s already growing faster, and in Sweden, the most popular phone is a USB modem,” said Bergendahl, who was the keynote speaker at the European Computer Audit, Control and Security Conference in Stockholm.
As more people start using mobile broadband, hot spots will no longer be needed. “Hotspots at places like Starbucks are becoming the telephone boxes of the broadband era,” said Bergendahl. A couple of factors will accelerate the move to mobile broadband. In countries such as Austria, Denmark and Sweden, the average price for a mobile broadband subscription is only €20 per month, Bergendahl said.
Also, support for HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), favored by Ericsson, is being built into more and more laptops. Ericsson recently signed a deal to put HSPA technology in some Lenovo notebooks. “In a few years, it [HSPA] will be as common as WiFi is today,” Bergendahl said.
How are things shaping up elsewhere?