Can mobile broadband take the place of fixed line?

Recent findings by YouGov, a market research company, have revealed that mobile broadband is having a serious impact on the business of fixed line broadband providers

It has been claimed by market research company YouGov that mobile broadband is beginning to seriously impact on the fixed line broadband business although there are still those who prefer a fixed connection to a mobile dongle. The dongletrack report provided by YouGov has found that although sixty four percent of mobile broadband users will use their mobile service alongside their existing fixed line connection, as many as one in eight or twelve percent have either chosen to use their 3G mobile connections instead of fixed line or just stopped using their fixed line service.
An Ofcom report in the UK recently found that between February and June 2008 the sale of mobile broadband dongles rose from sixty nine thousand to one hundred and thirty three thousand, which is almost double. It also found that twelve percent of homes have now ditched their landlines for voice calls in favour of their mobile phones. Fixed line connections are under serious pressure, not just from the increase in popularity of mobile broadband devices but also because companies like BT are charging customers huge sums of money to reconnect or install a phone line.

There are, however, those mobile broadband users that aren’t happy with the service. There were eleven percent of users that said they would cancel their mobile broadband service and just continue with their fixed line and there were eighteen percent who were undecided.

Head of technology and telecommunications, Marek Vaygelt, who was working with YouGov gave a statement advising “Customers find mobile broadband easy to use and install but transmission speeds and, to a lesser extent, network coverage reduce the initial enjoyment of getting up and running. It is in these areas that fixed ISPs have a distinct advantage and need to concentrate their marketing effort to minimise customer loss.”