HSPA/LTE is rapidly gaining prominence in the overall ecosystem of broadband services in Europe with the technology notching up 17.3% share in the total number of broadband connections at the end of 2009, reveals a new research from Berg Insight.

The number of HSPA/LTE mobile broadband subscribers (connected PCs) grew by 71 % yoy in 2009 to reach 25 million and the research firm predicts this to grow at 21.6% to reach 81 million by 2015.

The North American market is opening up to HSPA/LTE at a much slower rate of 7.1%. It is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 34.8% to reach 42 million subscribers at the end of 2015.

“Austria is the most advanced market with a penetration rate of over 15 percent, corresponding to 40 percent of all broadband connections in the country. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Portugal have also penetration rates above 10 percent. Belgium, Netherlands and Greece have on the other hand penetration rates of less than 3 percent”, said Marcus Persson, Telecom Analyst, Berg Insight.

According to Persson, mobile broadband connectivity will eventually become a standard feature in portable PCs which will have integrated wireless modems, enabling them to connect to the best available network. “The attach rate of embedded mobile broadband in notebooks was less than 5 percent in both Europe and North America last year. This will change as prices for the embedded modules decrease and an attach rate of almost 45 percent is expected already in 5 years”, Marcus concludes.

Berg Insight ranks Huawei at the top of mobile broadband terminals with a market share of 53%. The company has a strong foothold in Europe as well says Berg Insight. ZTE follows Huawei at the number two spot with market share of 30%.

Berg Insight estimates the total global number of shipped external mobile broadband devices in 2009 to 66 million, with Europe and North America accounting for 24.3 million units and 5.6 million units respectively.