Wireless broadband (WBB) will remain the fastest-growing broadband category during the next five years, outpacing the overall broadband market growth by three times, according to a new report.

According to IDC’s latest study titled "Beam Me Up: Australian Wireless Broadband Forecast and Analysis, 2005-2009," Australia's telecom industry has seen wireless broadband (WBB) quickly emerge from obscurity to centre stage in the past 12 months. 

"The exponential growth of WBB will not only pit its service providers against wireline broadband competitors, it will also be giving cellular carriers a run for their money," said Warren Chaisatien, IDC Australia’s research manager for Wireless & Mobility.

Despite its impressive growth, however, WBB remains a nascent market characterised by multiple incompatible technologies. Chaisatien cautioned that the WBB market is now at a critical juncture and it must now quickly reach industry standards to ensure future success.

Key findings from the study include:

* Australian WBB users are projected to number almost 70,000 this year, generating service revenue of A$57 million. WBB will make up about one-half of the service revenue to be generated from wireless data communications in 2009, with the other half coming from cellular technologies.

* The greatest threat in the near future for WBB service providers will come from large-scale, full-service carriers, which have the wherewithal to roll out WBB networks rapidly in many geographies and can bundle other services (e.g., VoIP, hosting, and 3G cellular) that make WBB even more compelling.

* WBB service providers should target dial-up Internet users, introduce value-added services, capitalise on the waning popularity of hotspots, and position their offerings as complementary to other wireless technologies.