Sixteen IT and mobile companies have united behind a GSMA-led initiative to create a new category of always-connected Mobile Broadband devices as an alternative to WiFi.

This will give consumers the freedom to get online on the move, while enabling carriers to address a $50 billion opportunity in both mature and emerging markets. In the first phase of this initiative, carriers, PC manufacturers and chipset providers are uniting to pre-install Mobile Broadband into a range of notebook PCs that will be ready to surf the Internet straight out of the box in 91 countries worldwide.

"To support this initiative, the GSMA has led the creation and launch of a new global service mark, which will help consumers identify the range of 'ready to run' Mobile Broadband devices," said Matt Simmons, spokesman for the GSMA, London. "Only devices that offer a truly un-tethered Mobile Broadband experience -- specifically GSM technologies including HSPA and LTE -- will qualify to carry the new service mark.

"The service mark promises freedom: freedom from hot spots, freedom from complexity and freedom from security concerns," he said.

Launch participants include 3 Group, Asus, Dell, ECS, Ericsson, Gemalto, Lenovo, Microsoft, Orange, Qualcomm, Telefónica Europe, Telecom Italia, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile, Toshiba and Vodafone.

These are some of the world's largest technology brands and carriers, serving more than 760 million connections, according to Wireless Intelligence.

The Mobile Broadband service mark is backed by a global media spend of more than $1 billion in the next year, evidence that the industry is serious about this proposition.

"The figure US$1 billion has been agreed as the minimum media spend that the initiative participants will commit to campaigns supporting the promotion of the Mobile Broadband brand," Mr. Simmons said.

The GSMA expects to see the service mark on several hundred thousand notebooks in stores by the holiday season.

Integrating Mobile Broadband into notebook PCs is the first step in a wider strategy to deliver wireless Internet access and management to a whole range of previously unconnected devices, from cameras and MP3 players to refrigerators, cars and set-top boxes.

The Mobile Broadband initiative leverages the increasingly widespread availability of high-bandwidth networks in both developed and developing economies.

Proponents claim that the great merit of Mobile Broadband is that it liberates consumers from the spatial tyranny of the so-called 'hotspot.'

Partners are hoping that the Mobile Broadband solution, informed by close collaboration between PC makers, chipset vendors and carriers, will focus on appropriate optimization of the services and superior performance on the device, and consequently, provide a better consumer experience.

Today, more than 55 million people subscribe to Mobile Broadband services in 91 countries, a number expected to grow by four million per month by the end of 2008, according to Wireless Intelligence.

"Mobile Broadband continues to extend its reach as rollouts gather pace," Mr. Simmons said. "So far more than 267 operators across 120 countries have made commitments to Mobile Broadband technology."

The Mobile Broadband mark promises to deliver fully mobile connectivity.

Products work out of the box and are fully integrated for maximum simplicity and supported by leading PC manufacturers such as Lenovo and Toshiba.

The Mobile Broadband 'service mark' represents the global standard for Mobile Broadband incorporating High Speed Packet Access, HSPA Evolved and Long Term Evolution.

HSPA is already available on a range of mobile handsets provided by a range of carriers globally.
In 2008, a Pyramid Research survey estimates a total demand of 79.5 million notebooks, worth some $50 billion in 2008, for notebook PCs in the high growth, mass market $500-$1,000 price range with built-in Mobile Broadband.

The survey indicates 88 percent of consumers planning to buy a notebook in this price-range would prefer Mobile Broadband built-in to notebooks to their original choice.

In 2008, OEMs are planning to ship some 33 million notebooks in this price range, only a fraction of which will be Mobile Broadband ready.

While most usage is in the home, the majority -- 78 percent -- of respondents cited at least two other locations where they regularly used their notebooks.

Three-quarters of consumers plan to buy notebooks in the 9" to 15" range, very small or very large form factors are not driving purchasing influences.

Six out of ten consumers now want to buy a voice and data package from an operator with a Mobile Broadband notebook.

The U.S. market has some catching up to do: 57 percent of the demand comes from emerging Asia Pacific geographies, 15 percent from North America and 11 percent from Western Europe.

Gartner estimates 200 million Mobile Broadband users in 2009. Informa estimates 1.3 billion users by 2012. Analysis firm Mason estimates 2 billion users by 2015.

The GSM Association is the global trade group representing more than 750 GSM mobile operators across 218 countries and territories of the world.

The association's members represent more than 3 billion GSM and 3GSM connections -- more than 86 percent of the world's mobile phone connections.

In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the association's initiatives.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers.

"Mobile Broadband is a high-speed wireless internet connection with a speed greater than 1Mbit/sec that is available wherever the user has Mobile Broadband coverage," Mr. Simmons said. "It delivers the same level of broadband experience to mobile users as fixed-line access without the wires, plugs and WiFi hotspots."