It seems a fairly bold statement to say the least from Carphone Warehouse’s chief executive Charles Dunstone,
“We get a sense that the mobile broadband thing has peaked. We are seeing some of those people begin to realise that the bandwidth you get on mobile is so much less than you get on a fixed line.”
The company’s direction has clearly moved toward fixed broadband, so such statements are in line with the direction that they’re taking, but peaked? Maybe it’s a reaction to the news that Talk Talk, Carphone’s fixed-line business, has seen further growth for the second quarter running. Even so, the point on which this story gets into trouble is highlighted by Broadband Genie,
“[…] few would argue that mobile broadband was ever really mooted as a replacement for fixed-line alternatives – yet, anyway.”
As the mobile industry progresses though this possibility is certainly beginning to increase in size on the mobile data horizon. In opposition of Dunstone’s comments is Andrew Cowie’s post at the Guardian, contemplating an entirely different perspective,
“Is it time to lose the landline and just have a mobile phone for calls and a 3G broadband dongle for the internet?”
The argument for one or the other is currently settled on issues of coverage and what it is you do online… but will one eventually marginalise the other?
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