3G UMTS growth to double in 2004

May 24, 2004

UMTS, after several years of relative stagnation, is now surging ahead strongly, according to ABI Research's latest "Wireless Infrastructure Quarterly Service". Evidence suggests that this year the UMTS market's growth rate should approximately double its 2003 performance.

While conventional wisdom points to UMTS's higher-level data and video services as the main inducements for adoption of the technology, ABI Research believes increased voice capacity, at a lower cost per subscriber than GSM, is at least as important. Legislation - national and international - will also play a role in its longer-term prospects.

However UMTS isn't yet anything like the "Universal" in its name, and GSM, together with its EDGE upgrade, is also enjoying a growth in worldwide acceptance. This is driven in part by new subscribers in the emerging Chinese and Latin American markets, and in part by pent-up demand as the rest of the developed world begins to emerge from its telecommunications slump.

According to Ray Jodoin, ABI Research's Director of Wireless Infrastructure Research, "GSM, especially in Western Europe, is experiencing a tremendous pent-up demand because of the need to provide more capacity quickly. While infrastructure manufacturers continue to deal with the typical growing pains experienced by any new technology, GSM represents a safe haven for the majority of today's subscribers."

The Wireless Infrastructure Quarterly Service provides an overview of the global wireless infrastructure markets and offers timely, constantly updated information on technology innovations and trends, sales and contract awards in this rapidly changing field. Its objectivity and depth make it invaluable to anyone involved in wireless communications.