Mobile and fixed line convergence: Current and future usage of fixed and mobile broadband services and economic and policy implications
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The CIE considered potential scenarios for how mobile and fixed line services could interact in providing households with broadband services.
Rapid increases in demand for data will tend to reduce the use of mobile networks as a provider of services to a home, if technology remains unchanged
However, our expectations are that mobile technology changes will be more rapid than the increase in demand for data. This will mean more homes will be mobile.
The choice to be a mobile only household will be most prominent in households where demand for data is lower and households size is smaller. This particularly includes younger and older households, rather than families.
The policy implications of more people moving to mobile only services are widespread. Policymakers should take advantage of the opportunities presented by the ongoing development of mobile networks and seek to enable mobile even if this exposes the NBN to greater competition. Indeed, the NBN should no longer be seen as solely a fixed broadband enabler, instead playing an important role in enabling both technologies.
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