Sep 16, 2009
Limited future for the broadband dongle
The major computer manufacturers * have come together to work on a future mobile broadband initiative. All seem to agree that the broadband dongle (USB internet dongle) pushed into the side of a computer is not the smartest way of accessing the internet in the future.
They agree that mobile broadband is the future and that future computer devices will contain the internet dongle components internally - The humble internet dongle with time will become phased out.
In my opinion this is not great news for the pay as you go mobile broadband user. It is likely that computer manufacturers will buddy up with certain mobile operators. These strategic partnerships could limit consumer choice as laptop manufacturers become tied to mobile operators (for example, Samsung could partner with T-mobile in an exclusive deal. This would mean you’d have to choose T-mobile as your pay as you go broadband provider if you bought a Samsung netbook in the future).
My advice – Get in and buy an internet dongle while you still have the choice and before you become tied to a mobile provider.
Key findings from the broadband dongle report in 2008:
- The survey estimated total demand of 79.5 million notebooks, worth some US $50 billion; for notebook PCs in the high growth, mass market $500 – $1,000 price range with built-in Mobile Broadband.
- Broadband built-in to notebooks to their original choice.
- OEMs were planning to ship some 33 million notebooks in this price range, only a fraction of which were to be Mobile Broadband ready.
Other research highlights:
- While most usage is in the home, the majority (78%) of respondents cited at least two other locations where they regularly used their notebooks.
- 75% of consumers plan to buy notebooks in 9″ to 15″ range – very small or very large form factors are not driving purchasing influences.
- 60% of consumers want to buy a voice and data package from an operator with a Mobile Broadband notebook.
- 57% of the demand comes from emerging Asia Pacific geographies, 15% from North America and 11% from Western Europe.
GSMA partners with leading companies to deliver range of ready to run, easy to use Mobile Broadband devices
In the first phase of this unprecedented initiative, mobile operators, PC manufacturers and chipset providers are uniting to pre-instal Mobile Broadband into a range of notebook PCs that will be ready to switch on and surf straight out of the box in 91 countries across the world.To support this initiative, the GSMA has created the Mobile Broadband service mark, a new global identifier which will help consumers easily identify the array of ‘ready to run’ Mobile Broadband devices. The Mobile Broadband service mark is backed by a global media spend of more than US$1 billion over the next year – evidence that the industry is serious about this proposition.
* Launch participants include 3 Groups; Asus, Dell, ECS, Ericsson, Gemalto, Lenovo, Microsoft, Orange, Qualcomm, Telefónica Europe, Telecom Italia, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile, Toshiba and Vodafone – some of the world’s largest technology brands and operators serving more than 760 million connections (Wireless Intelligence).
