Cable squares up to mobile broadband

摘要

Cable operators are well-placed to withstand competition from mobile broadband providers but will have to accept significant drops in broadband prices, industry experts said this week. But with one cable operator reporting a 20-per-cent fall in sales after mobile-broadband competition launched, it is clear that the threat from the alternative platform is not an insignificant one. "Fixed-line services will always have an advantage in speed," said John Cunliffe, chief technology officer at mobile handset provider Ericsson. "I don't think the cable operators will have too much to worry about in that regard." Dan Warren, director of technology at industry association GSMA, said that while there was "certainly some DSL and cable modem displacement", straight substitution of fixed-line services by mobile broadband was more likely in poor countries for the time being. "We're seeing quite heavy uptake in Africa and with some of the networks in Asia-Pacific, but you're dealing with a different market segment in Europe," he said. Mobile broadband is nonetheless making considerable inroads into the European broadband market, with particularly strong uptake in Austria and Sweden.