Mobile Broadband Guide

Unlimited mobile broadband

All mobile broadband deals have a download limit of some kind - whether a set download allowance or a fair usage policy - even if they're advertised as “unlimited”.

Thursday, 04 November 2010

By Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Fair usage mobile broadband

At present, T-Mobile broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) is the only supplier to offer fair usage downloads on its packages. Its pay monthly mobile broadband deal comes with a 3GB fair usage allowance when you sign an 18-month contract.

T-Mobile’s offering comes with a 3GB fair usage allowance, suitable for medium users, while Orange’s 18 month Panther plan is advertised as “unlimited” and comes with a massive 20GB download allowance - perfect for serious mobile broadband users.

It also offers a Happy Hour to Dolphin customers, with an hour of “free” fair usage downloads once a day.

While this is currently the closest that you will get to an “unlimited mobile broadband” package, it doesn’t mean that you can just download as much as you like without restrictions. If you regularly exceed your limit, you’ll be asked to curb your downloading or upgrade to a more appropriate - and more expensive - package, or even have your connection restricted in some way.

High download allowances

Three (www.Three.co.uk) offers the highest download allowance on the market with its 15GB plan. This is enough to:

• Send 15,000 emails without attachments, or
• Browse the internet for 150 hours, or
• Download 75 four minute videos, or
• Download 480 four minute music tracks.

Excess charges

Out of bundle downloads can be costly and in the past, some consumers have faced big bills for exceeding their monthly allowance.

Prices vary from one provider to the next, from 2.4p per MB with O2 mobile broadband (www.O2.co.uk) to 10p per MB with Three. Some providers, like Virgin Media mobile broadband (www.Virginmedia.com) and Vodafone mobile broadband (www.Vodafone.co.uk), both charge £15 per additional GB.

You also need to be careful about using your mobile broadband abroad. You can get a bundle to make it cheaper to use in the EU, but the best way to avoid running up big bills abroad is to leave your dongle at home.

Monitor your downloads

Even if you’re signed up to T-Mobile’s fair usage mobile broadband, you should still keep an eye on your downloads and avoid exceeding your allowance.

If you have a set download allowance you need to be even more careful not to download too much as you'll automatically be charged for any excess usage.

Use your provider’s download monitoring service to check how much of your allowance you've used and make sure that you never go over your limit.

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