Mobile data service use explodes

MOBILE MARKETING organisation the GSMA has produced figures which show startlingly rapid growth in the use of mobile phones as portable internet devices as mobile broadband networks proliferate and prices fall.

The EU's mobile data market grew by 40 per cent to €7 billion in 2007 as operators invested more than €20 billion on infrastructure. In the year to April 2008, the number of 3G users in the EU has doubled to 112 million making us the fastest continent in the world when it comes to mobile tech take-up.

The cost of mobile hardware and services, according to the report, are falling so rapidly that some users are shunning traditional fixed-line connections in favour of transportable ones.

The lower cost of data roaming, which fell by 25 per cent in the year to April 2008 has contributed to a 75 per cent increase in data traffic over the same period.

With many mobile operators now offering subscribers data services in large bundles for a flat fee along with measures to make sure they don't blow the budget in the first two days of the monthcompetition for your wifi dollars has never been fiercer.

And as more and more mainstream users adopt the technology, and the infrastructure improves, cost of mobile data can only get cheaper.

Now where's my new 3G Iphone? µ