Global mobile broadband subscribers up 84% to 186m but downturn

Mobile broadband booming but downturn will help delay LTE takeoff to 2013

Released: 19th March 2009
The mobile broadband market exploded in the last year, driving majorincreases in mobile operator data subscribers and revenues, and will play anincreasingly central role in the success of the mobile industry, accordingto Future Mobile Broadband: HSPA and EV-DO to LTE Networks, Devices andServices, a new strategic report from Informa Telecoms & Media.

“Mobile broadband has become one of the key growth engines for the mobileindustry, with 186 million mobile broadband subscribers worldwide at the endof 2008, up 84% from 101 million at end-2007,” says Mike Roberts, PrincipalAnalyst at Informa Telecoms & Media and lead author of the Future MobileBroadband report. “By 2013 mobile broadband subscribers will representalmost one-third of total mobile subscribers worldwide.”

The mobile broadband boom was triggered by the combination of widespreadmobile broadband network coverage, appealing devices such as USB modems andthe iPhone 3G, and competitive flat-rate tariffs. “Flat-rate mobilebroadband services with widespread coverage and new devices such as USBmodems and the iPhone 3G are a runaway success, and have made mobilebroadband one of the most significant strategic and commercial opportunitiesin the converging mobile and broadband markets,” Roberts says.

Future Mobile Broadband finds that at the end of 2008 there were more than400 commercial mobile broadband networks worldwide supporting thousands ofdifferent mobile and portable devices and generating billions of dollars inoperator revenues. “For many mobile operators, mobile broadband is drivingsustained increases in data ARPU. That in turn is key to increasing overallrevenues, given ongoing declines in voice ARPU.”

The mobile broadband markets in the US, Japan and Korea saw phenomenalgrowth in 2008, which led the three markets combined to account for themajority of global mobile broadband subscribers by the end of the year.“The US, Japan and Korea dominated the global market in 2008, but this ischanging fast as mobile broadband becomes a mass-market service worldwide,”Roberts says.

For example, all the pieces are falling into place for China Mobile’sTD-SCDMA mobile broadband service to gain traction by 2010, and thattogether with new HSPA, EV-DO and TD-LTE services will drive the country tobecome the second-largest mobile broadband market worldwide in 2013,according to Future Mobile Broadband forecasts. India will be thefourth-largest market in 2013, following BSNL’s launch of EV-DO mobilebroadband services in 2008 and BSNL’s and MTNL’s expected launch of HSDPAservices in late 2009.

However, mobile broadband will not be immune from the economic downturn,which will pile the pressure on beleaguered equipment vendors and force someoperators to scale back or delay major investments, particularly innext-generation systems such as LTE.

“There’s no doubt that the downturn will delay LTE deployments, with majoroperators already citing it as a key factor leading them to push LTE launchdates to 2011-12,” Roberts says. “Major operators such as Verizon Wirelessand NTT DoCoMo are still committed to launching LTE in 2010, but the economywill still be tough then, which could hit rollout schedules and takeup. Manyoperators are also realizing that HSPA and HSPA+ upgrades should meet theirneeds for the next few years, and will cost a lot less than LTE rollouts.The net result is that the LTE subscribers will not start taking off until2013.”

However, the overall outlook for the mobile broadband market is good.“Mobile broadband is already a must-have service for many consumers andbusinesses, which helps to explain why it will be one of the strongestmobile segments throughout the downturn,” Roberts says. “We’ve fullyrevised all our forecasts in light of the economic downturn, but we’restill expecting strong growth through 2013 in mobile broadband subscribers,device unit sales and operator data revenues.”

Chunghwa Telecom Chooses Adobe Flash Technology for New Channel Me Data Service

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA –May 21, 2008 -Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) and Chunghwa® Telecom (TAIEX 2412, NYSE: CHT) announced that Chunghwa Telecom has launched its new Channel Me service, powered by Adobe® Flash® Cast™ software, to deliver engaging multimedia information and entertainment services. Subscribers will receive personalized and automatically updated information virtually anytime and anywhere via their mobile device.

As the largest mobile operator in Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom joins pioneering operators such as Verizon Wireless and NTT DoCoMo, who license Adobe Flash Cast to differentiate their brands in the mobile marketplace and generate new revenue streams by migrating customers to enhanced data service plans.

Adobe Flash Cast enables mobile operators and other service providers to deliver personalized intuitive data services through branded mobile channels created using Adobe Flash® technology. Starting immediately, Channel Me subscribers will have access to five standard channels, including News, Weather and Horoscopes, Entertainment and Sports, Food, and Life.

By the end of Q3 2008, a set of premium channels with content from leading media brands (including movie ticketing and music) is expected to be available.

With an intuitive user interface and automatically updated content, the immersive multimedia experience will enable Chunghwa Telecom to set a new standard for mobile data services in Taiwan.

“As the largest operator in Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom is the thought leader for delivering next generation wireless services to our customers,” said Shyue-Ching Lu, president, Chunghwa Telecom.

“Adobe Flash technology is key to Chungwha’s strategy to lead the industry with innovative services and to unite the mobile ecosystem in Taiwan around our network, so we can meet the growing demand for our applications to scale across multiple screens.”

“Chunghwa Telecom will be the first operator in Taiwan to provide services based on Flash Cast technology,” said Gary Kovacs, general manager and vice president, Mobile and Devices at Adobe. “We continue to see growth in personalized data services around the world, and are excited to work with operators like Chunghwa Telecom to help them scale their mobile service offering and bring rich and unique mobile experiences to their subscribers.”

Adobe mobile solutions enable service providers, device OEMs, and content providers to deliver more engaging mobile experiences across devices and operating systems by leveraging the Flash ecosystem, which includes the Adobe Flash authoring tool, Adobe Flash Lite™ software and an established community of more than one million designers and developers.

Flash Cast is already a great success in Japan. Today, more than 15 million customers subscribe to NTT DoCoMo’s data services, which offer more than 80 channels since its launch three years ago.

Pricing and Availability
Channel Me is available immediately via a simplified subscription fee and initially supported by more than twenty mobile devices from Nokia, Samsung, and HTC, including the newly announced HTC Touch Diamond. The basic channel service is expected to be available for NT$40 (US$1.30) per month. Premium channels will be offered for NT$20-100 (US$0.65 – $3.23). The monthly fee provides unlimited usage of Channel Me data services. There are no additional data traffic fees for using the service. For more information, please visit http://channelme.emome.net.