The Inquirer is reporting on some Strand Consulting research which says:

While many players are focusing on the growth markets like India, Brazil, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh – countries where cheap handsets and SIM cards will attract millions of new customers – that’s not the interesting bit, Strand says.

The real challenges are markets like Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, where mobile prices are plummeting at the same time as the operators are investing in the launch of 3G.

This is very interesting. What it appears to imply is that mature markets – places where people use mobiles as if it was second nature – will be the places to watch over the next year.

Any hick can put up a GSM base station in Bangladesh. Not anyone can make mobile successful in places where people shrug their shoulders at 3G services.

Having just been on a trip to Scandinavia, I’d say it’s going to get tougher – especially as people switch on to Skype and WiFi phones…