Turning the masses onto mobile broadband

16 June 2009 | 12:13 - By Stefano Boscutti

After two years of rapid growth, mobile broadband, the wireless industry’s most successful innovation of the past decade, is at a crossroads as operators struggle to maintain fast, omnipresent service in the face of exploding internet traffic.

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Since mid-2007, when the first services came on the market, about 16 million people worldwide have signed up for mobile broadband, according to Screen Digest, an industry researcher. In 2008, the number of subscribers almost doubled. But the rapid deployment - and mounting internet traffic from video streaming and file sharing - have caused many wireless broadband services to slow down or interrupt from data overload. As technical glitches spread, consumers are becoming wary and mobile broadband sales are slowing.  Damn. Just when you thought the revolution was here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/technology/internet/16srtech.html

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About this Blog

New New Media looks at how our mediascape is exploding to bits. How the latest technology and the internet are changing the way we live, work and play. How the latest media is shaping us all.

Stefano Boscutti is an executive creative director and strategist. He's like a better looking version of Todd Sampson. He also has an abiding faith that stories and wordplay (and not powerpoint presentations) will change the world.

 
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