Watching mobile connectivity happen

It isn't often that we get to see the real details behind the uptake on a technology. In the case of wireless 3G connectivity in the UK, however, there is some real data available in the form of a nifty graph from the mobile carrier 3. They recently showed off the trend in total bandwidth usage on their network and the line it basically goes up consistently at a 45 degree angle. The carrier was struggling to drive usage on the 3G network that they spent a ton of money to build out; most folks were just using it for phone service, which doesn't use the network to its potential. But now that broadband access cards/dongles/USB adapters are becoming more widespread, the usage of their network is increasing phenomenally. Even more amazingly, in the UK they apparently pay per megabyte, not just a monthly unlimited plan like we get here in the USA. So in addition to seeing adoption of the technology, the carrier is actually seeing growth in revenues.

I've been plugging broadband access for a while now - I'm a huge fan of the anywhere access to data. It is good to see that it is finally starting to gain traction with folks other than commuters on the Acela trains in the north-east corridor.