Wireless to own lion’s share of broadband connections: Maravedis

New research from Maravedis predicts that broadband wireless technologies will make up the majority of high-speed Internet connections into Canadian homes by 2017. The Montreal-based research firm projects that more than 46% of broadband connections will be wireless compared to 28.2% and 25.5% for cable and DSL, respectively. Maravedis presents the results in its Canadian Internet Database (CID), a comprehensive research report that details Internet penetration on a postal-code-level basis and by technology. The Montreal research firm released the report on November 7. Julien Regoli, senior analyst at Maravedis, explains that the increases in wireless will be at the expense of cable modem and DSL technologies, noting that the 2006/2007 time frame will mark the saturation point of the two wired technologies (see the November 24 issue of Report on Wireless affiliate publication Network Letter for more on this). "We feel that 2006/2007 are years where we’re going to see a cap in terms of penetration rate for DSL and cable, and as wireless is introduced in different areas that’s going to eat into the subscriber base of cable and DSL," says Regoli. He adds that it’s still too early to discuss which of the broadband wired technologies will lose the lion’s share of connections. "We’re not going to speculate…that there’s going to be more cable subscribers going to wireless than DSL subscribers. We assumed a uniform decline and solid growth on wireless technology," Regoli tells Report on Wireless. "We didn’t segregate all that is encompassed in broadband wireless." He says the company will look at identifying on a per-subscriber basis the types of broadband wireless technologies used in the future. Maravedis sees the broadband wireless industry developing in a way that mirrors the cell phone sector: connectivity wherever the device is. High-speed wireless technology regardless of its iteration – EvDO, HSDPA or WiMAX – will be embedded in the laptop or mobile device, allowing the user to get connectivity on the train or at the cottage. Regoli suggests that wireless broadband penetration will have such high levels because there will be multiple connections to the home. "On broadband wireless we expect to see a similar phenomenon that we’re seeing today on the cell phone industry, which is a ratio of greater than one subscriber per household," he says, noting that "it may not be as high as the ratio for cell phones," but it will be strong nonetheless. The impetus for the CID was a carrier client that wanted postal-code-level detail of Internet penetration and a measurement of use of the various broadband technologies in three British Columbia cities. After completing the project, Maravedis decided to conduct the exercise nationally.

Wireless to own lion’s share of broadband connections: Maravedis

News | December 4, 2006

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