Analyst sees tepid cell broadband growth
Silicon Valley analysts predicted this week that high costs would keep the lid on wireless broadband growth in the U.S. consumer market.
In a speech to a tech conference this week, Andrew Viterbi of the Viterbi Group said it was unrealistic to expect that the nearly 2 billion people who own cell phones worldwide would also sign up for broadband access.
The EE Times said Viterbi, who helped found Qualcomm, pointed out that many mobile applications simply don't require a lot of bandwidth and, therefore, don't justify paying an extra $50 per month for broadband access.
He also expressed doubts that wireless video and audio capabilities will be unique enough to convince mobile users to pay the extra cost for broadband.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
