Tablets are set to be key earners for the mobile broadband industry because of their similarity to smartphones shows a recent Ovum survey.The Mobile Broadband Industry Survey, conducted by Ovum and Telecom Asia, found that half of its Asia-Pacific telecom executive respondents think that handsets will be the major driver for mobile broadband traffic, while another quarter put tablets in the top seat.
The same survey from last year pointed at netbooks and laptops to drive mobile broadband, though this category was outrun and pushed to third place.
“Operators view tablets as a more natural fit than laptops or netbooks as they have the same lifecycle, operating system and data model as smartphones,” said Nicole McCormick, Senior Analyst at Ovum.
Telecoms are seeing content as the way into consumer pockets, with a majority looking at content provider partnerships to overcome the threat from heavyweights in the industry like Google and Apple. Companies have otherwise partnered with the giants to deliver their services without facing stiff competition.
Ovum has pointed at monetising social networking services by creating new charging models as it is one of the biggest drivers of mobile traffic (alongside video and other web browsing). The current model used in the Philippines that charges a daily rate for social networking is favoured by Telecom Asia and Ovum’s research.
