Network upgrades could mean high wireless data prices

An official from the analyst group Ovum has said recently that the price of wireless data could continue to be high as telcos try and cope with the cost of upgrading networks.

The rising number of people using devices such as mobile broadband dongles and smart phones has resulted in 3G broadband networks becoming strained due to the high demand for network capacity, which has made it all the more important for Australia and other countries to get the next generation of mobile broadband networks, which is Fourth Generation or 4G, into place as quickly as possible to cope with the increased demand.

However, on industry analyst has said that the price of wireless data could continue to be high, as telcos will be trying to cope with the cost of upgrading networks. The analyst, from Ovum, said: “There is no doubt that mobile traffic is going to continue to grow, and will continue to grow very rapidly. Telstra’s traffic is growing rapidly, and there are dramatic increases being spurred by more data cards beings sold, more smartphones being activated and application stores becoming more common.”

He added: “One of the major differences between our networks here and those overseas is in how mobile data is priced. In the market in the US, you have unlimited data subscription packages similar to fixed broadband services, and in Europe as well. You can download as much as you want and it doesn’t cost any extra. Obviously that is not how things are priced in Australia. There is more of a tie between what is downloaded to a company’s revenue, and as these caps increase and data becomes cheaper, that will diverge and traffic will grow much faster than revenue.

Operators will have to make sure their networks are as efficient as possible to ensure they can deliver those services.”

Source – Smart Company