The Coming Explosion in Mobile Internet

4 Billion Mobile devices with over 700 Million of those accessing the Internet is a testament to where we are now in the trend toward increasing mobility. The implications are fascinating. The non-profit mobile think tank, MOCOM2020, has shared some compelling research as to where this is all heading and its coming sooner than you might think.

Several new network technologies for mobile and non mobile Internet access are in place or being launched very soon. 4G continues to be rolled out while Verizon is planning to test its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Boston and Seattle later this year as a dry run for its big commercial launch in 2010 - see Five reasons it's time for a Verizon iPhone. MOCOM2020's interesting presentation below highlights the implications for these high speed networks.

Verizon COO Denny Strigl recently mentioned the company planned to commercially launch LTE services in "up to 30 markets" next year to service 100 million people. The Boston Globe reported that Verizon isn't willing to elaborate on its LTE plans further and it hasn't yet released pricing the service.

Verizon first announced it was trialing LTE in two U.S. cities last February. At the time Verizon did not know what download and upload speeds its networks would offer. In Verizon's own trials with its partners at Vodafone, its LTE network reached peak speeds of 60Mbps. See the video demo of LTE below. High speed mobile access to the Internet is about to revolutionize the way we do many things. Expect it to reach mainstream use in less than 3 years.