GENEVA-A new report from the International Telecommunication Union said the market for “portable Internet” services is growing, especially in developing markets.
In the Asia-Pacific region, for example, the telecommunications market is expected to double by the end of this decade, with the majority of the users connected wirelessly rather than via fixed lines, said the report.
“The fixed-line network is simply growing too slowly to meet the region’s burgeoning demand for broadband, especially in rural areas,” said Tim Kelly, head of ITU’s Strategy and Policy Unit, which produced the report. “But today’s second-generation cellular mobile networks are not geared up for delivering high-speed Internet access.”
Emerging technologies that will accommodate portable Internet include short-, medium- and long-range technologies. Short-range technologies include Bluetooth, ZigBee and RFID. They allow low-power connectivity within a range of 30 meters. Medium-range technologies include Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.11b and can communicate at least 150 meters up to several kilometers. Long-range technologies include WiMax and IMT-2000 and extend up to 50 kilometers from base stations.
“Fixed-line technologies generally offer higher speeds while IMT-2000, also known as 3G mobile-phone networks, offer greater mobility,” said Taylor Reynolds, one of the report’s authors. “However, there is a wide gap between these two, and many see this as the prime market segment for new portable Internet technologies, especially in developing countries.”
In developed countries, particularly in urbanized areas, portable Internet technologies likely will complement existing networks rather than supplant them, said the report. The market, said the report, is being driven by handset manufacturers trying to add value to their products
