A revolution is taking place in the broadband market, and fast, affordable mobile broadband truly is setting the internet free - from as little as £10 a month.
Providers are lowering their costs, and expanding the range of their 3G mobile broadband networks so, along with super-fast cable and ADSL, mobile broadband - with a current top speed of 7.2Mb - is set to be a big thing in 2008.
What’s so great about mobile broadband?
For a start, it does exactly what it says on the tin; it makes broadband mobile. You simply sign up to your mobile broadband provider, who will supply you with a USB modem, or dongle, which you can plug into any PC you want, and connect to the internet wherever you are.
So if you’re on your way to an important meeting, taking a long train journey (though like a mobile phone, connectivity might be patchy), or just want to take your broadband with you everywhere you go, mobile broadband is the answer.
It also means that you can kiss goodbye to your line rental. Mobile broadband modems don’t connect to a phone line in your wall; they use the 3G network and connect to the internet wirelessly. And at £11 a month paying by direct debit to BT (www.BT.com), this could save you £132 a year.
And although the 3G network doesn’t cover the whole of the UK, it does connect almost 90 per cent of the country. At the end of 2006 providers 3 mobile broadband(www.Three.co.uk) and T-Mobile (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) joined forces to improve their coverage and boost speeds, with the plan to cover 98 per cent of the population with speeds of up to 7.2Mb by 2009.
The range of mobile broadband coverage even means that people who can’t get a traditional broadband connection because they live too far from their local exchange can access the internet with a 3G dongle.
Are there any drawbacks to mobile broadband?
Still in the early stages of mass adoption, there remain some drawbacks to mobile broadband. Cost has always been one of the biggest deterrents of mobile broadband; providers charged so much for downloads that it just wasn’t worth it. But now, 3 offers a connection with a 1GB allowance from only £10 a month, while other providers T-Mobile and Vodafone (www.Vodafone.co.uk) both apply fair usage policies to their packages.
Coverage can also be a problem in some areas, though all of the mobile broadband providers offer a service that allows you to check the coverage in your area. Make sure you find out what your coverage will be like before you sign up.
Speed was the last major hurdle for mobile broadband providers, but with Vodafone currently leading the pack with speeds of up to 7.2Mb, and 3 and T-Mobile looking to boost their speeds in the next year, this is no longer the issue it once was.
How much does it cost?
Each of the three providers has different pricing schemes; 3 is the cheapest, starting at £10 a month, but charges customers who go over their download limit, T-Mobile is the mid-range provider but costs are quite high unless customers sign a 24 month contract, and Vodafone is the most expensive of the pack, with a starting price of £25 a month.
However, each company offers a range of packages, including pay-as-you-go and even a pay-per-day package. So no matter how often, or how little, you want to use it, you’ll be able to find a suitable package.
What can I do with my Mobile Broadband download allowance?
It can be difficult to work out which package is right for you based on download allowances, but you can use this as a rough guide:
1GB of data lets you send 650 plain text emails and surf the web for 30 hours and download 30 two minute videos and download 60 music tracks
3GB of data lets you send 2,000 plain text emails and surf the web for 100 hours and download 100 two minute videos and download 200 music tracks
7GB of data lets you send 4,500 plain text emails and surf the web for 200 hours and download 200 two minute videos and download 400 music tracks
Is it difficult to set up?
Mobile broadband is the easiest of connections to set up. All of the modems offered by the UK’s three providers come with pre-loaded installation instructions so you simply plug in your dongle and it will automatically install the software you need to connect the internet.
Then, whenever you want to surf, you just plug your modem in, open the provider’s logo on your desktop, and away you go.
3 Mobile Broadband
By far the cheapest of the three providers, 3 also offers very flexible packages, with a range of prices, download limits and even pay-as-you-go options. You have a choice of three contract lengths; 12, 18 and 24 months, you choice of which on the cheaper two packages - Broadband Lite and Broadband Plus - will affect the price you pay for your dongle.
Unlike T-Mobile and Vodafone, 3 doesn’t apply a fair usage policy. Instead, you’ll be charged per MB if you exceed you limit.
Contract customers will pay 10p for every MB over their allowance, while pay-as-you-go customers will be charged a whopping £1 for each MB. Because of this, it is a good idea to install our free Broadband Download Monitor to keep tract of your downloads, and set alerts as you reach your limit.
You have to pay £99.99 for your dongle and then top up your account online or using E-top up
T-mobile
T-mobile doesn’t charge customers as soon as they exceed its fair usage policy, however, it does publish the limits it sets on its two packages at 3GB and 10GB and any customer who exceeds their limit more than three times will be asked to upgrade to a more expensive mobile broadband package.
Rather than dictating the price you pay for your USB modem, with T-Mobile, the length of the contract you sign will determine the amount you pay each month. Standard contracts are 12 months but customers willing to sign a mammoth 24-month contract can cut their monthly payments by £9.
T-Mobile also offers a “daily” mobile broadband package, and after buying your modem you’ll be able to connect for no more than £4 a day.
You have to pay £99.99 for your dongle and then top up your account online or using E-top up
Vodafone
Vodafone recently added two new, cheaper packages to its mobile broadband portfolio in order to compete with other UK providers. It is also the fastest, offering a choice of modems both with speeds of up to 7.2Mb, compared to the top speed of 2.8Mb offered by 3 and T-Mobile.
The newly launched 7.2Mb USB modem and USB modem stick can be purchased on one of three monthly packages, or on Vodafone’s £8.50 a day pay-as-you-go option. The Mobile Broadband 3GB package is aimed at moderate users and has a 3GB download limit with a charge of £12.77 per additional GB. The Mobile Broadband 5GB is for more regular users with a 5GB download limit and a £12.77 charge per additional GB. The other two are aimed more at the business user than the general public, and both of the monthly packages - the Mobile Broadband Euro Travel and Mobile Broadband Business Travel - have have unlimited downloads with a 5GB fair usage allowance - so you won’t immediately be charged for exceeding it as you would with the cheaper package.
The main difference between the two Travel packages - other than the price - is that the roaming allowance on the Mobile Broadband Business Travel can be used in any country, while the Mobile Broadband Euro Travel roaming allowance is only for Europe, but at £95 a month, all but the most regular business travellers would be better off using an internet café instead.
Like 3 and T-Mobile, Vodafone offers a choice of three contract lengths at 12, 18 and 24 months, and while all Mobile Broadband 3GB have to pay something towards their modem, on the two more expensive option only customers on the shortest contract will have to pay for their modem. There is no discount for choosing the very long 24-month contract over the 18-month option.
A USB modem is free on a 24 month contract but a USB modem stick costs £39, USB modem costs £59 on an 18 month contract but a USB modem stick costs £79. Only USB modems are available on a 12 month contract, costing £99
Both USB modems and USB modem sticks are free on a 24 month contract, USB modem costs £19 on an 18 month contract but a USB modem stick costs £59. Only USB modems are available on a 12 month contract, costing £59
Fair usage policy applies with a 500MB limit per 24 hours
£8.50
Fair usage policy applies in the UK, £4.25 per MB abroad
You have to pay £149 for your USB modem stick or £100 for a USB modem and then top up your account online or using E-top up
Which is the best package for me?
Because of the very low usage allowances, and the high costs in getting a 7GB or 10GB allowance, heavy downloaders shouldn’t use mobile broadband as their only connection just yet.
However, this year prices are likely to drop more, and allowances likely to go up too . But you need to think about the way you’ll be using your mobile broadband connection before signing up to any package.
Think about how much you’ll be on the internet, whether or not you’ll be downloading a few songs from iTunes, or want to have the BBC iPlayer download service running in the background all the time.
Avoid signing a 24 month contract because in two years time, when all of the providers are offering at least 7.2Mb mobile broadband, prices have dropped considerably and download allowances have increased equally, you could be stuck on an outdated, overpriced package.
Mobile phone broadband, but without the dongle!
If you already have a 3G mobile phone then you could save yourself the cost of a mobile broadband dongle. By connecting your lap top to your 3G phone via "blue tooth" you will can get a basic broadband connection, also saving on the need for a wire. While "dongles" and 3G technology are developing using your mobile for broadband could save you time and signing a lengthy contract
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