It is highly unlikely that mobile broadband will replaced fixed line home broadband according to an industry expert.
The Editor of broadband.co.uk said that smartphones and other mobile devices are complimentary ways to get online as households and businesses will still rely on proper computers and proper Internet connections.
Only last week we said in our news story about “Mobile broadband to exceed fixed line broadband by 2011” that:
“We can’t see mobile broadband replacing fixed line broadband but we do see it as a complementary broadband Internet service that users will make use of when away from the home.”
Although mobile broadband and 3G enabled devices mean that the Internet can be access more freely when users are out and about it isn’t the same experience offered, for starters typing on a small Blackberry or iPhone keypad and looking at the Internet on a screen a couple of inches in size is not the same as being able to sit down and look at things through a full size monitor, plus it is easier to type a full email reply when you can view the whole email and not just part.
To add extra weight to fixed line broadband is the current roll our of Next Generation Fibre broadband which will be able to deliver broadband speeds much quicker than mobile broadband is able to achieve and with ever increasing bandwidth intensive applications mobile broadband may not be able to offer the full functionality of these.