European 3G users break 100 million, 2G laughs maniacally
As much fuss as we make about 3G, the impact it has on the mobile experience, and the death of old-school GSM as a viable technology, deployed WCDMA networks in their various forms are still just a drop in the bucket when compared to the GSM subscriber pool as a whole -- even in 3G-rich Europe. A new report from market research firm Informa Telecoms and Media reveals that European 3G users now number 101.5 million, which works out to about 11.1 percent of the some 910.8 million wireless users in the continent. Norway, Sweden, and Italy all individually broke 25 percent 3G penetration, but even so, that paints a very interesting picture of the overwhelming importance of the legacy infrastructure. With EDGE Evolution on the way, it could continue to play a majority role well into the next decade, too.
