Nielsen Mobile reports that there were more than 13 million wireless data card users in the US as of Q2 2008. Recent adoption has been strong, with more than half (55 percent) of these devices acquired in the past 12 months.
The latest research from YouGov has revealed that one in every eight Mobile Broadband users have replaced their existing land-line ISP, using their wireless card instead of the land-line alternative.
Only 5% of those currently using both a land-line broadband ISP and a Mobile Broadband service said they intended to drop their land-line service within the next year, but over 25% of existing Mobile Broadband subscribers were contemplating the cancellation of their contract, sighting slow speeds and high costs.
As of Q2 2008, consumers report spending an average of $65 on their data card, excluding service costs (usually $60-$80 a month). Wireless data cards come in ExpressCard and PCMCIA cards (54 percent of mobile data cards), USB cards (30 percent) and as embedded cards that come built into laptops (17 percent).
Mobile data cards typically augment high-speed home Internet access: 40 percent of card users also have cable broadband and 34 percent also have DSL in their home. That could change though, as 59 percent of mobile data card users say they might swap their ISP for data card use exclusively.
Mobile WiMAX, delivering twice the speed of cellular data at half the cost, is likely to accelerate that phenomena.
Clearwire expects to go commercial in the fourth quarter. The Portland, Oregon network, covering some 1.2 million people, will be followed by Atlanta, Grand Rapids, Michigan and Las Vegas.
I’ll let you know how Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX service works with my CradlePoint 1000 (which the company gave me to test), as soon as service is available here in Portland.
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