According to an industry expert the level of mobile broadband traffic could create problems that could result in a number of consequences.

Mobile broadband has taken off big time over recent months, with many consumers and businesses taking up mobile broadband because of the increased convenience, ease, flexibility, and mobility that it offers. The popularity has been further fuelled by the competitive packages that the various mobile broadband providers have been offering to try and increase their customer bases.

However, there could be a problem, as one industry expert has recently pointed out in a report. The managing director of IQ, Simon Bransfield-Garth, has said that some laptop dongles could result in a data load for mobile networks, adding that it could be greater than that of all other phone based services combined.

He added that the impact of this sudden and huge increase in data traffic could be quite significant for mobile providers. He went on to state that it could affect network management, and could even impact upon the charges that customers face for their services. He did state, however, that he did not think that raising prices across the board was the answer, because this could affect the level of growth within the mobile broadband market. Instead, he suggested, the better solution would be to introduce pricing plans based on “what mobile users are doing, when they are doing it and what the user experience is really like at the sharp end.”

His report read: “Network capacity is a finite resource and without investment in greater bandwidth through 3G hotspots, such as home femtocells or public picocells, the macro networks will become congested, slow and unusable.”