Mobile Broadband Internet

In its response to the severe criticisms it has drawn in the past couple of months over the miserable performance of its networks, the UK mobile operator O2 has vowed to ramp up its network capabilities by pouring some significant investments into it. The operator is looking forward to upgrade its mobile network to augment its data handling capacities, and committing to the same, it has announced a multi-year strategy involving some mammoth investments.

As per its plans, the company will start from London by installing somewhere around 40 new mobile data hotspots in the city by the end of the year, and another 160 in the span of next one year or so. Under this massive network upgrade drive, the rest of the country would see the addition of another 1,500 new hotspot locations.

Derek McManus, chief technology officer at O2 UK, noted that the operator is looking ahead for a significant surge in data usage over the next year, and henceforth its gearing up to match this massive growth with enhanced investment to augment its network capacity for the future.

Discussing about the considerable growth mobile industry had in the past few years, McManus said: “Our £500m investment over the past two years has enabled us to offer the best products in the world, including the Apple iPhone and Palm Pre. In the past 12 months the mobile industry has seen an unprecedented change in demand”.

Swindon is to become the first UK town to provide free wireless internet access to all of its residents.

Swindon Borough Council will create a Wi Fi “mesh” network across the whole borough in order to deliver its ‘Signal’ scheme.

The programme will provide free connection to the internet, free line rental and the ability to stay online while moving throughout the borough.

The public will be given limited free access to the internet, enabling them to download emails for free. After a free three-month trial, subscribers will also be able to sign up for 20Mb upgrades, and ‘pay-as-you-go’ options are promised for visitors to the network.

The network is also planned to deliver real-time information on home electricity usage and street-wide air quality monitoring reports.

The Wi-Fi project will be run by Digital City UK Ltd, of which Swindon Borough Council has a 35 per cent share, with the intention of working on similar roll-outs of the technology in other towns and cities across the UK.

Swindon’s Wi-Fi network will be switched on in some areas in early December with the remainder of the project set to be completed by the end of April.

Signal is the council’s first public/private commercial venture.

1) Download allowances are insufficient.
Not so. Although 1GB deals are still around and are indeed limiting for users, these are now far from the norm. One of the bestselling deals out now is 3’s 15GB for £15 package. That’s enough for 5,000 emails, 150 hours of web surfing, ten half hour video downloads and 480 four-minute music tracks. Furthermore, research from industry experts shows that the typical mobile broadband user gets through just 1.2Mb of their monthly download limit each month.

2) Mobile broadband is much slower than home broadband.
Top 10 Broadband’s exclusive speed test software reveals that the average connection speed for a Vodafone customer is 2.62Mb. This compares well with the current average fixed line connection speed of 3.5Mb. Mobile broadband users can also boost their speeds at no extra cost by using a specially designed browser such as Opera Turbo.

3) Mobile broadband laptop deals are a rip-off.
While it’s true that buying a laptop and broadband separately usually works out cheaper, compared with other credit/hire purchase deals laptop offers are actually very keenly priced. For instance, Vodafone’s current Acer Aspire 535 deal is priced at £40 per month over 24 months. However, if you deduct the £550 cost of the laptop from the total package price of £960, you’re paying just £17 per month for mobile broadband. That’s just £2 more than the average dongle-only deal and in line with the mean price of a fixed line connection.

4) Contracts are too long.
While 24 month contracts were the norm just 12 months ago, contracts as short as one-month as offered by providers like O2 are now extremely popular. Furthermore, those who despise contracts, can opt for one of the many pay as you go options offered by all the main retailers from with prices starting from £2 per day on T-Mobile.

5) Data charges are expensive.
The days of punitive charges of £45 per GB are a relic of the dim and distant past. 3’s current £15 per month deal entitles users to 15GB of usage per month – that’s just £1 per 1GB of usage.

Mobile broadband provider, T-Mobile applies no charges for excess usage on their plans. Similarly other providers have online tracking systems that can be used to keep on top of download usage and prevent excessive charges.

6) You need a dongle to get mobile broadband.
Although many people do use dongles, laptops that are pre-installed with broadband are becoming increasingly common. So much so, that they will soon be the most common way of using mobile broadband.

Orange and Vodafone both offer laptop deals with broadband embedded. And better still, signing up means you can get your hands on a high-end Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook or a stylish pink Eee PC 901 laptop.

7) Usage overseas is expensive.
Horror stories of bills of thousands of pounds for overseas use were once a fixture of UK newspapers. But recently ISPs have dramatically cut charges by as much as 80 per cent.

But that’s just the start. EU legislation to promote competition comes into force on July 1st this year which will slash costs even more. The introduction of a wholesale cap will peg the maximum charge at 1Euro per Mb downloaded. This compares with the current average price of 1.68 Euro. Under the EU regulations, ISPs will also be forced to warn consumers when they are close to breaching their usage caps, making bill shocks a very slim possibility.

Mobile broadband is a luxury at a time of recession.
Mobile broadband is often a cheaper option than fixed line broadband. That’s because you don’t have to pay for line rental.

With line rental at £11.25 per month and extra for broadband, the cost of even the cheapest fixed line connections is around £17. Conversely, the average price for a mobile broadband product is just £15.

9) Dongles are dull.
Certainly, the very first dongles prioritised function over form. But more recently they’ve become much more stylish and are now very much the devices du jour.

If fashion is your thing, you’re sure to like designer Henry Holland jaunty polka-dot patterned O2 dongle. And if that doesn’t float your boat, why not try Orange’s shocking pink ee160 dongle? Alternatively, 3 sells dongle skins to let you add a dash of colour to your mobile broadband experience.

Newer dongles are also much more than just means of getting online and are at the cutting edge of putting the fun into functionality. T-Mobile’s USB Stick 530 doubles as a USB storage device. And as we speak, technology firms are working on a dongle that will work as a mobile phone.

10) Mobile broadband can only be used outside the home.
75% of mobile broadband users connect to the internet at home. While away from home T-Mobile and O2 customers can avail of Wi-Fi hotspots, allowing them to take advantage of free connection without eating into your mobile broadband usage allowance.

Thanks to T-Mobile’s brilliant Share Dock device mobile broadband users can even share their connection between up to three other users in the same building. Better still, the Share Dock is easy to install and is free when you sign up for an 18-month contract.

You can also share your connection if you’re a 3 customer. All you need is to do is plug your dongle into a Huawei wireless router and you and yours can be online in no time.

Three (3) UK, which reports it has the best 3G network coverage in the UK, has recently announced that from Monday it will be shaping the amount of traffic on its mobile broadband service.

It comes after reports that mobile internet is becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Three is obviously becoming concerned that the sharp rise in mobile broadband subscribers has meant that more and more people are putting strain on the relatively small amount of mobile broadband bandwidth available.

Three have said that it won’t affect you if you don’t use large amounts of bandwidth on the network and that the scheme is mainly being used to highlight very heavy users.

So, if you know you use large amounts of bandwidth on your mobile broadband, enjoy it for the last time. You’ve got 36 hours to knock yourself out! After that, you’re doomed to inevitable future of traffic shaping on mobile broadband!

O2 has reduced the price of its pay as you go O2 mobile broadband USB Dongle to just £14.67. Until midnight on 17th November you can buy the dongle for just half its usual price. £14.67 is the so-called ’set-up fee’ - and the dongle can then be topped up with usage sold in units of time. One day’s worth of mobile broadband will set you back just £2 - giving you 500MB of data usage which lasts for 24 hours. Alternatively you can have a week’s worth for £7.50 (1GB data allowance) or a month’s worth for £15 (3GB data). Each choice also offers you unlimited access to over 7500 Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK with The Cloud and BT Openzone.

The dongle will connect you to O2’s mobile broadband network, with connection speeds of up to 3.6Mb, and comes with plug and play functionality. It is also covered by O2’s excellent 30 day happiness guarantee - which allows you to return all items for a full refund if you’re not completely satisfied.