There has been a tenfold increase in the number of people using mobile broadband services in the past year.

Such is the assertion of the GSM Association, an organisation founded for the promotion of global mobile communications, in a recent report examining the total number of mobile broadband users worldwide.

The group states that there are now more than 32 million people using mobile broadband services, compared with three million at the beginning of 2007.

In support of this evidence, the association cites research by Wireless Intelligence which has identified worldwide annual growth of 850 per cent in the mobile broadband market.

"The uptake of mobile services such as music and video downloads as well as internet access is rising in many countries as users are experiencing the benefits of high-speed mobile broadband," comments Rob Conway, chief executive officer at the GSM Association.

Meanwhile, in a recent Financial Times article, Morgan Stanley Research found that over 50,000 mobile broadband dongles are sold every month in the UK.

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