Mobile data cards could eventually even threaten the Wi-Fi hotspot market as HSDPA and EV-DO cellular data networks become available in more locations, and at lower prices.
The mobile data services market is becoming more competitive, as mobile operators try to recoup their investments in 3G networks and drive up flattening ARPU (average revenue per user), said Infonetics wireless analyst, Richard Webb. Currently, mobile data services are generally too expensive for mass market adoption, but that will change with the increasingly extensive rollout of high speed HSDPA, the launch of new data plans offering increased download limits, and better subsidies for mobile data cards.
The iPhone has proven that if the user experience is right, users will take advantage of mobile devices for Internet sessions, Webb went on to say.
The number of mobile data subscribers worldwide is expected to accelerate dramatically over the next few years, reaching 144 million in 2011. Sales of data cards, meanwhile, are projected to hit $2.9 billion that year.
