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Darren Waters

Growing appetite for mobile data

  • Darren Waters
  • 14 May 09, 14:39 GMT

Customers' appetite for mobile data shows no sign of abating, if you look at figures supplied by network operator Orange.

It now has 3.8 million users on 3G phones or with 3G dongles that plug into your computer and give you broadband access over the cellular data networks.

According to Orange, 12,877 gigabytes of data travel over its network to 3G phones and dongles each day. That sounds a lot - but it's actually only about 3.3 megabyes per user.

It's why Paul Jevons, director of products, portals and services, told me: "The 3G dongle market is in the early stages of development; it only kicked off last year."

Dongle subscriptions at Orange have risen 500% in a year and dongle data usage by more than 4,000%. I wouldn't read too much into those numbers - as the base was quite low - but the graph certainly looks healthy.

But there's no doubting the importance of mobile data services - more than 15% of revenues generated by mobile operators globally came from non-voice services in 2008, according to Informa Telecoms and Media.

The challenge for Orange - and for all other mobile networks - is that as subscriptions and usage of dongles and 3G handsets grows, the strain on the networks grows too.

The architecture of 3G networks was never designed with the needs of millions of data-hungry users in mind. If you've ever tried to make a phone call or send an SMS at a major sporting event, you will know exactly that I mean.

With a maximum download speed of 7.2Mbps available to Orange, the reality is that most users will not get close to that speed because of other data users also squeezing the pipe.

Mr Jevons said: "Speeds with dongles have increased quite dramatically - we have plans with industry to further in crease those speeds over time."

Orange, as with other networks, is rolling out ever faster variants of connections, currently at 7.2Mbps, and soon reaching 14.4Mbps. Five cities in the UK will support 14.4Mbps by the end of 2009 for Orange customers.

Beyond that, Orange and others are looking to technology, which could support 28Mbps, and eventually Long-Term Evolution, which could be even faster.

But the inescapable problem for mobile data is that the greater our demand, the more penalties we will pay in terms of downstream speeds.

"Generally, customers are pretty satisfied with their mobile data speeds," said Mr Jevons.

"However, two things happen - more people use service which means you have greater stress on the network, and once customers use it and get faster speeds, they then expect more."

Orange is managing its network resources to try and spread the bandwidth evenly among users, prioritising certain packets of data and adding more capacity where it knows there is more demand.

Orange also knows that 3G data remains a complement to technologies like wi-fi, and not a competitor.

Increasingly, devices are coming on to the market that can switch seamlessly between data protocols, and the goal is for the user to not even notice the switch.

But there is a long way to go yet.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    dongle!

    #3 in my top 10 favourite words.

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  • Comment number 2.

    Darren, you said that the "architecture of 3G networks was never designed with the needs of millions of data-hungry users in mind"? Then what was the point of 3G in the first place? I thought the reason the big mobile operators spent literally billions of pounds was so that we all could make video calls, surf the internet and watch mobile TV?

    I'm also surprised that Orange have such a strain on their 3G network anyway, in my eyes they seem to be falling behind in the innovation stakes, they're certainly the only major operator without a locked-in headlining 3G handset: Vodafone has the BlackBerry Storm, O2 has the iPhone and T-Mobile has the G1. When was the last time Orange actually did anything ground breaking?

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  • Comment number 3.

    As well as dongles I'm sure the iPhone is a major driver in increases in mobile data demand. I know that until I got my iPhone I never bothered with data on my phone. To be honest I find current 3G speeds fine, its coverage which needs improving IMHO.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)

  • Comment number 4.

    It is rather sad that people are being so successfully sold so much that they have no need for what-so-ever.

    The next thing will be a built in radar so you can walk down the road with your head face down, staring at your bit of personal electronics without bashing into anything.

    And that will be that - human beings will lose the concept of proper eye contact or appreciate anything around them as they disappear into a miserable little world a couple of inches across in the belief that is VITAL for their survival.

    What was the downfall of the human race? Gullibility.

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  • Comment number 5.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)

  • Comment number 6.

    We could have been in this position years ago, but the operators continued to charge stupid money for data and to try to restrict us to their rubbish walled gardens. The operators' greed continues unabated, as they sell dongles to the gullible public when a tethered 3G phone will do the job better.

    Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)

  • Comment number 7.

    Couldnt agree with Neil more, it used to cost a fortune.

    Contracts with unlimited data will be around for a while, but I can see contracts getting to a point where we are paying for data only, and all calls are made Skype-like, online.

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  • Comment number 8.

    In terms of a complete mobile service we are getting their with the network infrastructure and devices, but the cost and content still require focus.

    Yes, the network operators will always have a bandwidth challenge, but with 3G networks already having 87% coverage in the UK and being available in a further 218 countries around the world there is a already a good network foundation for consumers.

    It's also estimated that almost three-quarters of mobile users (72 per cent) have internet capabilities on their mobile. Figures from the Mobile Data Association reveal that over 16 million people in the UK accessed the Internet from their mobile phone during May 2008.

    However, another survey performed around the same time showed that 7 out of 10 mobile phone users didn't know how much they were charged for using mobile data services (internet, email, etc) on their mobile phones.

    [Self promoting plug follows ...]
    I've created the site with details for over 200 tariffs currently in use in the UK. There is a one-page comparison estimating the cost of using each of these tariffs. Based on an average use of 1MB of data/day for 30 days - the range is from 拢6.00/month to a whopping 拢210/month for exactly the same data use !
    [Self promoting plug ends.]

    The move to providing a personal and relevant mobile content is being led by the big players such as the Google, Facebook, Yahoo and of course the 大象传媒. But there is also a more widespread acknowledgement amongst the designers and developers providing content services across all industries that mobile content is not just a small-screen version of existing web sites as can be seen .

    With over 3.5 Billion mobile phones in use around the world mobile data is the next Internet and it is already here. The network operators have a big challenge ahead to ensure their services continue to perform and grow to meet these increasing demands.

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  • Comment number 9.

    Wireless data transfer is deffinitely where the future is, as an affiliate marketeer I've become increasingly depedent on Wireless technologies to keep track of my Income VS Expense.

    Where as before I was very isolated to my house & office I can now roam around more or less anywhere I want. The iPhone is deffinitely where still where its at in comparison to other handsets capable of decent data transfer: especially since offering thethering in the last update.

    Ant

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