When we talk wireless backhaul, we are really talking about how to meet the increasing demands of our customers through the good ol’ OSP. So, things like lightning protection, efficient backhaul choices, and merging the wireline and wireless side of the house are, well, slightly important.

Tellabs recently did some pointed research to discover usage patterns for European and U.S. mobile users during the recent economic slump. Alas, it finds that consumers intend to dramatically increase use of mobile data services over the next two years – with a significant ramp-up in the next 12 months. The survey was administered by The Nielsen Company and includes responses from more than 50,000 mobile users in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States.

Is it any wonder providers large and small will be requiring their infrastructure and engineering teams to work and play well together?

Survey Key Findings
• Working it: the frequency with which mobile data services are used on a daily basis reveals a focus on staying connected with mobile Internet (71%), email (61%), and MMS (56%), with less emphasis on entertainment applications like mobile TV (34%) and music downloads (29%).
• Current users: average intended increase over the next 24 months is 55%, on par with the European average, while 48% intend to increase use over the next 12 months.
• Non-users: intent to begin using mobile data services over the next 24 months (29%) is on par with the European average (28%).

Issues and Market Drivers
The study finds that U.S. consumers drive more new mobile Internet use than Europeans with a focus on productivity-oriented applications.

Pressure on networks will grow as 71% of U.S. respondents anticipate daily use of mobile Internet services.

Cost, network performance, and reliability are factors highlighted by non-users as primary barriers to service uptake, especially for bandwidth-intensive services like mobile TV.

U.S. respondents indicated they are ready to try mobile commerce, using mobile devices to buy, sell, and make payments.

Top 5 Mobile Services of Interest
In the next 24 months, U.S. residents who don’t currently employ mobile services intend to use:

Mobile Internet            49%
MMS                           38%
Photo uploading           34%
Software downloads     30%
Email                          28%

Source: The survey was administered by The Nielsen Company and includes responses from more than 50,000 mobile users in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States, in November 2008. The Nielsen Company Mobile Data Services Survey, released February 2009. For more information: The Nielsen Company, www.nielsen.com/, http://en-us.nielsen.com/. Tellabs, www.tellabs.com.

What’s your take on this subject?  Leave a comment and get the conversation going.