Broadband Vision 2015

In recent years a sea change has occurred in many economies. Technological innovations, the rapid growth of broadband Internet and the increased global networking of commerce and society have spawned the oft-cited information society — itself a stage on the road to a knowledge society.

The convergence of previously separate commercial domains like consumer electronics, telecommunications, information technology and the media sector has given rise to new market structures and innovative sectors, which have the potential to be hugely important in the future from an economic and, in particular, labor market perspective. What are the resultant trends likely to be in the next ten years? Which business models will prevail in the new markets of the future? Will Germany be able to compete economically with the various information societies?

Key Findings

• Experts predict the ICT industry’s share of gross domestic product will increase from around 6% in the year 2004 to around 12% in the year 2015 (2010: around 9%).
• Superior broadband infrastructure will be crucial to Germany’s global competitiveness.
• More than 65% of the experts predict high growth rates for combined Triple Play and digital home packages in 2015.
• In the area of integrated Triple Play and digital home offerings, experts anticipate new business models and market structures will lead to full-scale market convergence.
• The experts predict that by 2015 the integration of stationary and mobile broadband Internet access will enable anytime/anywhere access to broadband Internet.
• The integration of stationary and mobile broadband technologies will be so far advanced by 2015 that users will not even be aware they are switching networks.