"We're changing the game in broadband," Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, told reporters and analysts at the carrier's annual CTIA lunch on Tuesday. "We think we're in the beginning of the next wave of growth, and it's mobile broadband....The day when you had to rely on a tethered connection to get good broadband connectivity, those days are over."

De la Vega said that AT&T Wireless now offers 3G service in more than 350 markets, with 20 additional markets expected by the end of the year. has made it the top Wi-Fi hotspot provider, as well, with 20,000 locations in the United States and 80,000 worldwide.

AT&T projects global mobile data revenues to rise from US$148 billion in 2007 to $347 billion in 2013, when that segment will account for a third of the company's revenues, de la Vega said.

Several factors will drive the growth. David Christopher, chief marketing officer for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, said that new applications will be important, as three-quarters of the cell phones AT&T Wireless now sells support 3G data networks.

To help promote applications for 3G-enabled non-smartphones, AT&T has launched a new Apps Beta program, which will allow consumers to download and try out applications and then provide feedback to developers, who are invited to submit apps through . Christopher said that popular categories include social networking aggregation and user-generated content.