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  1. 2007 /
  2. October-December 07 /

Mobile broadband benefits society

There are lots of reasons why everybody needs mobile broadband via HSPA - but most importantly, everyone benefits.

November 7, 2007

One of the quickest and most cost-effective ways of giving someone the ability to communicate with the outside world, sometimes for the first time, is not by running a fixed-telephone line to where they live, but by providing them with a full mobile broadband service.
 

Whether it is the Australian outback, a small village in India, or downtown Stockholm or Hong Kong, giving people the opportunity to enjoy a rich mix of wireless multimedia communication capabilities now often costs less than providing a traditional landline service. For poorer families, this connection can also bring about a real improvement in their daily lives. 
 

High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) makes it possible to deliver mobile broadband services faster and more cost-effectively than by other means. Built on the European 3G standard, this radio technology can handle more traffic over both bigger and smaller cells, making it cheaper than traditional copper wire when connecting remote locations, and more efficient in coping with denser traffic in towns and cities.
 

This combination of HSPA and mobile broadband is making a positive change to the lives of people in developing countries. Gramjyoti, an Indian charity dedicated to improving rural health and development, is using Ericsson technology to provide villages in the southern region of Tamil Nadu with mobile broadband connections. This has brought normal internet connection to the villages, as well as online access to education services and medical advice. Local farmers can now check weather forecasts and the latest crop prices by logging on.
 

In South Africa, national operator MTN has used mobile broadband based on HSPA to set up a string of broadband connections to internet cafes. These have become a valuable source for job hunters and for people seeking health and education information. And although aimed at the jobless and those with low incomes, the operation still managed to turn a profit after just two months.
 

The developed world can benefit, too. In Australia, a mobile screening service run by BreastScreen Victoria is allowing women living in remote locations to be scanned for breast cancer. It uses mobile broadband based on HSPA for consultations, connecting the women with doctors in major city hospitals and clinics. And in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the US, the local police force uses mobile broadband to pass information and images quickly and efficiently to its officers on patrol.
 

Mobile broadband using HSPA is an affordable and easy-to-establish technology, benefiting from the large economies of scale that drive investment in devices and network equipment, while lowering the cost of devices in the marketplace. The residents of Sweden's capital city, Stockholm, can enjoy broadband mobility for as little as USD 10 per month. Telstra, a nationwide Australian operator, was able to bring mobile broadband to 98 percent of the country's population within just 10 months.
 

But mobile broadband is competing for radio spectrum space with other technologies, such as satellites and TV broadcasting. That may change, as governments are currently debating the future at the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-07) in Geneva.
 

Lena Beming, Strategic Marketing Director, Broadband, at Ericsson, says: "HSPA is the technology that really does enable broadband for all. And because it will account for more than 70 percent of mobile broadband users, it deserves its fair share of the spectrum allocation."

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