A report released today by the analyst CCS Insight predicts explosive growth for mobile broadband across Europe. Despite varying environments across Europes five major markets, the one common factor is growth, underpinned by HSPA and HSPA+ mobile broadband technology.
According to the report, the European mobile broadband market will see subscriber and revenue numbers nearly double by 2011. Total mobile broadband subscribers in key European markets will rise from around 22 million at the end of 2009 to over 43 million in 2011, while total revenue from mobile broadband access in the major markets will rise from less than 6 billion (5.4 billion)in 2009 to more than 11 billion in 2011
It is clear from this report that with the right network investment, European mobile network operators will see significant growth in Mobile Broadband adoption in the next two years, saysMichael OHara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSM Association (GSMA). HSPA technology will drive this rapid uptake across Europe as mobile operators and their customers continue to benefit from its expanding, vibrant and competitive ecosystem. HSPA technology has a vast number of enabled devices and established roaming capabilities delivering high speed broadband connectivity to users on the move, right across Europe.
Key findings from the report include:

• In Italy, most access is charged by the minute, while operators elsewhere, particularly in the UK, have largely adopted flat-rate, all-you-can-eat models.
• Among Europe's major markets, the highest charging countries for Mobile Broadband are France, where 4GB of data can cost a subscriber almost 85 a month, and Germany, where subscribers can pay 45 for each gigabyte of data.
• The least expensive Mobile Broadband in the top five markets can be found in the UK, where competition is fierce, and where subscribers can pay less than 17 a month for 3GB of data traffic, and less than 5 for each gigabyte of data.
• France and Spain will see the fastest growth in mobile broadband users, and the advent of new subscribers – and a fourth operator in France – will be accompanied by a reduction in average charges.
• The most common allowances across Europe are 1GB, 3GB and 5GB a month.

Competition will have a huge impact on the growth of mobile broadband across Europe, both in terms of increasing subscriber numbers and the average revenue operators will see from each subscriber, says CCS Insight Managing Director, Shaun Collins. In this market, we expect to see not only growth, but also changes in the dynamic across Europe as the countries currently with the least mobile broadband penetration – France and Spain – experience the fastest growth in subscribers in the coming years.