Broadband subscriptions to hit 3.6 billion by 2015

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Half the world's population expected to be online in four years' time, says Ovum

Broadband access has become as essential as gas, water and electricity in developed nations, and over half of the world's population will be connected to the internet by 2015, according to a new report from Ovum.

Over 60 per cent of households in developed countries have broadband, and Ovum predicted that there will be 3.6 billion subscribers worldwide in four years' time.

Some 1.4 billion people worldwide, and 253 million in western Europe, will have access to both fixed and mobile broadband.

Around 84 per cent of people in the US, Asia and western Europe will have this dual access to the internet as the integration of fixed and mobile networks continues.

UK enterprises are expected to continue relying heavily on traditional fixed broadband services, despite the expected increase in cloud computing, Steven Hartley, Ovum principal analyst, told V3.co.uk.

"Very small businesses can run on mobile contracts offered by operators, but this is a niche area. As enterprises grow, fixed-line networks will remain essential due to the increased robustness, capacity and security they provide," he said.

"Mobile networks still have to overcome the traditional stumbling blocks of security, data management and roaming."

However, mobile broadband is still expected to take off in emerging markets, and one billion people in these areas are on course to use this as their primary source of internet access, Hartley continued.

"Areas that will see the greatest penetration for mobile broadband will be those where the availability of fixed lines is limited and devices are affordable. Eastern Europe, south and central America and Asia Pacific are where this is expected to happen," he said.

Estimates regarding mobile subscriptions vary. The UMTS Forum predicted recently that one billion devices are expected to be connected to the mobile internet by 2016.

Ericsson, meanwhile, has suggested that mobile broadband subscriptions will hit one billion by the end of this year owing to the increasing use of tablets and smartphones.

The largest number of subscribers, around 400 million, are expected to be in the Asia Pacific region. North America and Europe are each expected to have 200 million mobile broadband users.

Network operators in the UK, meanwhile, are continuing their efforts to provide faster and more reliable broadband in an attempt to win consumers and businesses.

Virgin Media rolled out its 100Mbit/s service to five new locations earlier this month, offering high-speed broadband to 150,000 more homes and businesses around the UK.

O2 announced that it will deploy Wi-Fi access points across the UK, offering free access regardless of users' mobile or broadband provider.

The network will double the number of Wi-Fi locations in the UK run by BT Openzone and The Cloud by 2013 to about 15,000, and O2's 450 retail locations will be among the first to join the network during the second quarter of 2011.

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