High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) mobile broadband technology is rising in popularity in the business world, according to research released today.
Commissioned by the GSM Association (GSMA) and conducted by Loudhouse, it surveyed 1,000 organisations across Europe, Asia Pacific and the US.
The survey showed that 36 per cent currently used HSPA as their primary means of mobile broadband access.
Almost 25 per cent of global enterprises said they expected the technology to become industry standard within the next five years and the report predicted budgets for enterprise mobile tech will double across the globe in the next 12 months.
Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer at the GSMA, said in a statement: "The findings provide an extremely encouraging global outlook for HSPA Mobile Broadband technology penetration within enterprises."
He added: "The results clearly demonstrate that enterprises are keen to innovate and have recognised the freedom and flexibility that HSPA Mobile Broadband delivers."
More than 70 per cent of companies who provide equipment to their staff said they also provided laptops, VPN access or other remote devices showing that desktop provision is declining.
However this tends to be for senior positions, with 60 per cent of directors and 62 per of managers given the devices compared to 39 per cent of sales representatives.
"As the global HSPA ecosystem continues to grow at unprecedented levels, enhanced economies of scale will make HSPA even more accessible, both from a price and coverage perspective," O'Hara added. "This will lead to the technology becoming more widely deployed within enterprises, to employees at a variety of different levels."
