Wireless broadband revenues to hit US$784B

Wireless broadband revenues will multiply by a whopping 24 times by the year 2015, according to a telecoms analyst firm.

Analysys Mason said in a statement, the global wireless broadband industry is predicted to generate some US$784 billion in service revenues by that year, bolstered by service and pricing options that will evolve around expected developments in the technology.

The report predicted the number of wireless broadband customers will hit 2.1 billion by then, with developing regions expected to make up 57 percent of that.

Presently, these regions account for just 17 percent of the global audience, said Analysys, explaining that the strong growth will happen because of their lack of fixed-line infrastructure.

Cellular to cover more users
"Cellular technologies will dominate wireless broadband services, with 20 times as many users as WiMax by the end of 2015," the report said.

WiMax is expected to see life almost completely in emerging regions. "WiMax will be squeezed from developed markets by fixed and cellular broadband services and will serve just 98 million customers worldwide, of which 92 percent will be in developing regions," said the report.

Analysys expects WiMax to contribute just 2 percent of global revenue, because of the "vast majority" of mobile network operators choosing the "natural" path of upgrading to LTE. This will result in "four times more LTE users by the end of 2015".

While LTE will take off "relatively slowly", its customer base is targeted to hit 440 million by 2015--and a revenue which will translate into US$194 billion.

Additionally, HSPA, which dominates the market at 88 percent currently will drop to 54 percent (combined with its next evolution standard, HSPA+) by the end of 2015. The number of HSPA customers stand at 61 million and are expected to hit 1.1 billion in the year, said the report.