Gordon Smith at Silicon Republic is predicting a Broadband arms race as the mobile broadband sector looks to improve speeds and, as result,  the service as a whole.

Looking specifically into the Irish broadband market, which is behind only Australia in its uptake of dongle-based connectivity with almost 250,000 users, Gordon delves into the details. In Ireland the market is a much more viable competitor to fixed line broadband than in other territories, something he refers to Pat Kidney, head of Analysys Mason Ireland, “several factors explain the high uptake of mobile broadband here. One is the slow progress to date of rolling out fast, fixed-line broadband and another is the high proportion of rural dwellers – close to 40% of the population.”

There is a school of thought presented in the article that believes although providers state they are satisfied with figures, they’re surprised by the demand, something that has led to the need for network upgrades. It is as Gordon states, “If adoption continues along the same steep curve, the operators are likely to need that extra capacity very soon.”

We await the roll out! For the full assessment from Gordon and further insight from Kidney head to here.