Mobile Broadband Is Soaring; Will Wi-Fi Become As Hard To Find As A Phone Booth?

Reports and opinions are all over the map when it comes to the debate on whether mobile broadband will replace Wi-Fi, or if Wi-Fi will continue to play a role in people's lives. From experience, we all know that Wi-Fi provides a horrible experience at conferences. If you ever connect, you are dropped before long. That's where mobile broadband can really shine. But at the same time, when at home, or at a cafe, Wi-Fi can't be beat. It's fast, and often free and can exist in the middle of nowhere. Likewise, mobile broadband continues to be expensive and service territories are limited.

Given these challenges, it was interesting to see varying reports and comments made this week supporting both sides of the argument. Ericsson's (NSDQ: ERIC) marketing chief Johan Bergendahl said as mobile broadband takes off, Wi-Fi hotspots will become as irrelevant as telephone booths, InfoWorld reports. Mobile broadband is growing faster than mobile or fixed telephony ever did, he said, and that "in Austria they are saying that mobile broadband will pass fixed broadband this year,...and in Sweden, the most popular phone is a USB modem." Bergendahl was the keynote speaker at a Computer Audit, Control and Security Conference in Stockholm.

In addition, two different new reports provide different perspectives. One released by In-Stat showed mobile broadband adoption is on the rise, while the other by ABI Research predicts a municipal Wi-Fi revival. Here's a summary of both:

-- In-Stat said worldwide adoption of 3G and 4G grew by 91 percent, and it expects a 63 percent growth rate in 2008, with total subscribers rising from 230 million in 2007 to 375 million in 2008.

-- Deployments of 3.5G technologies called HSUPA are going strong, with 28 deployments of HSUPA worldwide, according to In-Stat.

-- ABI Research said in the US alone, more than 400 municipalities are in various phases of deployment, but if they continue to pursue the free business model, the networks will not succeed. With other business models, the research firm could see Wi-Fi grow from 520 square networked miles in 2004 to 30,000 square miles in the near future, according to Telecommunications Online.