Mobile Personalization

Frost and Sullivan recently announced it conducted a study on mobile broadband penetration in the Latin American market and found that during 2009, there were almost 15 million mobile broadband connections indicating a high growth rate.

Limited DSL and Cable Modem coverage in several countries, and fast adoption of mobile broadband services were reasons cited for the tremendous growth.

With this growth rate, the potential for mobile broadband penetration to overcome fixed broadband penetration, at least in some markets such as Brazil and Columbia, is possible.

According to the report, by 2015, almost 40 percent of the total population will have opted for mobile broadband services.

However difficulties related to spectrum availability and allocation could deter the expansion of mobile broadband network coverage, which at present seems unstoppable.

3G services are also being offered at least in 6 economies of the Latin American region, and although the average speed is between 128kbps-256kbps, there are plans afoot to increase this to 1Mbps.

Brazil appeared to have done well accounting for the highest penetration of mobile broadband users in Latin America. But, because of the high tax burden, the service price is still not very affordable.

Chile was also the most developed market with the broadest offer of plans and the lowest prices for prepaid users.

"Investments in mobile broadband network coverage expansion, the increasing need for mobile connectivity, growth penetration of 3G enabled mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, e-readers, and the lack of fixed broadband network coverage are the main drivers for the market in the next few years," Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) Industry Manager Jose Roberto Mavignier, said.