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Wireless Week: Forecast Calls for Millions on Shared Data Plans

Tekelec today released findings from Infonetics Research showing that the number of mobile broadband devices sold globally on shared data plans is forecast to grow an average of 89 percent a year from 2011 to 2015, reaching nearly 187 million units.

Smartphones, USB cards and tablets will comprise 89 percent of the devices on shared plans.

According to Infonetics, the shared data plans first will gain traction in markets with advanced 3G competition, such as North America, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

"It's going to be a phenomenon that's going to become common very soon," says Randy Fuller, director of strategic marketing at Tekelec, which already is getting a lot more requests for products that assist in implementing shared data plans.

By 2015, the majority of mobile users worldwide still will be on individual plans, but 15 percent of all smartphones will be sold as part of a shared data plan, which are similar to the shared voice/family plans with which many people are familiar.

Infonetics notes that even in 2010, few such shared data plans were in the market, but things are changing. In North America, Rogers Wireless is perhaps the best example, with its offers of various plans ranging from $30 to $50 a month.

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