Business use of 'big-screen' mobile broadband to triple

According to a new forecast* by the independent telecoms analyst, globally the number of big-screen broadband connections for devices such as laptops and tablets on enterprise contracts will hit 74 million by 2015 - up from 25.8 million in 2010 and a compound annual growth (CAGR) rate of 24%.

Use of mobile handsets will continue to dominate the enterprise market with connections on enterprise contracts predicted to hit 233 million by 2015 - a CAGR of 6% from 2010 to 2015. Underlying this trend is a major shift to the use of smartphones in businesses.

Total global revenues

Meanwhile, total global revenues for the enterprise mobile market will reach US$146 billion** in 2015, with the majority of growth globally coming from the use of data services as mobile voice prices commoditise.

Pauline Trotter, Ovum principal analyst, commented: "An increasingly mobile workforce and the intensifying need for them to be able to access data wherever they are is driving the strong predicted growth in the number of enterprise broadband connections.

However, we see that many enterprises find mobility increasingly difficult to manage, particularly as employees increasingly want to bring their own devices, including iPads, iPhones and Android devices, into the workplace and connect these to the company network. This puts pressure on IT departments who have to manage the associated risk as well as additional costs to the enterprise."

*Enterprise Mobile Connections & Revenue Forecast: 2010-15

**Exchange rate at time of posting $1=R6.88

© Ovum 2011