Mobile broadband take-up on the rise

10-04-2008

by Charlie Taylor

Irish firms are embracing mobile broadband services, according to a ComReg report, which shows that 82 percent of firms accessing the net use a broadband connection.

The survey, of over 550 businesses in Ireland, was conducted by Millward-Brown IMS in January and February 2008. It reveals that adoption of mobile broadband, via laptops using data cards and modems, is growing among organisations.

According to the study, 55 percent of large corporates are now using mobile broadband. In addition, 24 percent of SMEs are using such services to get online, up from just 15 percent in 2006. The report shows that Vodafone has gained first-to-market advantage over its mobile broadband competitors and is the most popular provider of both HSDPA and 3G mobile data cards.

Moreover, the survey indicates that all corporates with mobile phones are now using some form of mobile data service and such services are rated as useful by 79 percent of businesses.

ComReg's report reveals that overall, businesses are content with the service provided by their broadband provider. Approximately, 85 percent of SMEs said they were satisfied with the download speeds they received from their ISPs, as did 85 percent of corporates. However, a whopping 50 percent of SMEs and 21 percent of large corporates said they didn't know what contracted download speed was being provided by their broadband supplier.

The report also revealed that smaller firms were less likely than medium-sized firms to have internet access, and of those SMEs not connected to the internet, over one-third said they felt they had no need to do so, which is nearly half of the level seen previously. In addition, one in eight felt the internet was not appropriate for their business, and a further one in ten said their company was too small to warrant an internet connection.

Although businesses may be happy with their ISP, it would seem that many are not content with their fixed-line telecoms provider with 28 percent of all firms making a complaint regarding their service.

The survey indicates that awareness and usage of VoIP has increased among both SMEs and large corporates. Forty percent of large organisations are currently using VoIP technology compared to just 11 percent in 2006. In addition, 9 percent of SMEs currently use the internet telephony to make calls versus 4 percent two years ago.

Lastly, the report reveals that there is a high level of awareness among businesses of reduced roaming charges due to recent EU regulation, with about two thirds (66 percent) of all firms claiming knowledge of the roaming cap.