November 25, 2009
The average mobile broadband speeds that were found by BroadbandGenie show that from the 3,600 users that were tested the average speed was less than 1Mb.
The exact figure they found was a mobile broadband speed of just 0.87Mb which is hugely slower than the advertised 3.6Mb and 7.2Mb that is advertised by the mobile broadband providers.
Of those who used the broadband speed test those who managed a mobile broadband speed of 3Mb or above was just 0.5%, with 65% getting speeds that were under 1Mb, with 39% of these results actually being under 0.5Mb!
Around a quarter (26%) got speeds of between 1Mb and 2Mb and just 7% managed to get between 2Mb and 3Mb.
What the big hope is that when 4G services start getting rolled out that mobile broadband speeds will increase dramatically, but hopefully the mobile broadband providers won’t just increase their advertised top speeds to speeds way greater than are likely to be received by most like most currently do at the moment.
There is more problems with mobile broadband still, with the use of smartphones and people using the Internet on the move more the capacity for mobile broadband is being stretched hugely as demand starts to close in on what is actually avai;lable, again 4G technology will hopefully go a long way to sorting this when it is launched.
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November 13, 2009
It is highly unlikely that mobile broadband will replaced fixed line home broadband according to an industry expert.
The Editor of broadband.co.uk said that smartphones and other mobile devices are complimentary ways to get online as households and businesses will still rely on proper computers and proper Internet connections.
Only last week we said in our news story about “Mobile broadband to exceed fixed line broadband by 2011” that:
“We can’t see mobile broadband replacing fixed line broadband but we do see it as a complementary broadband Internet service that users will make use of when away from the home.”
Although mobile broadband and 3G enabled devices mean that the Internet can be access more freely when users are out and about it isn’t the same experience offered, for starters typing on a small Blackberry or iPhone keypad and looking at the Internet on a screen a couple of inches in size is not the same as being able to sit down and look at things through a full size monitor, plus it is easier to type a full email reply when you can view the whole email and not just part.
To add extra weight to fixed line broadband is the current roll our of Next Generation Fibre broadband which will be able to deliver broadband speeds much quicker than mobile broadband is able to achieve and with ever increasing bandwidth intensive applications mobile broadband may not be able to offer the full functionality of these.
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November 6, 2009
The popularity and take up of mobile broadband has been amazing, with the numbers of new mobile broadband users mushrooming in the last year.
 It is now believed by some in the industry that by 2011 the number of mobile broadband connections could be more than the number of fixed line broadband connections in the UK.
The popularity of mobile broadband is easy to see, it offers easy and convenient access to the Internet with the freedom to use it when you want to and not being limited to your home, plus the prices of mobile broadband are not huge meaning that it has made it accessible for many.
The thing with mobile broadband is that it is still not able to deliver broadband speeds as fast and as reliable as fixed line broadband, plus with the roll out of next generation fibre broadband taking place it is going to struggle even more to compete with it.
We can’t see mobile broadband replacing fixed line broadband but we do see it as a complementary broadband Internet service that users will make use of when away from the home.
What will make mobile broadband or 3G Internet more popular is that ever increasing bits of technology are being built with the ability to connect to it.
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October 26, 2009
The continuing growth and popularity of mobile broadband and people using their mobile phones to access the Internet is set to send mobile data transfer to rise 25 fold by 2012!
The problem for the mobile operators is that in the same period of time the revenues from those using the services is only expected to double and that they need to act now to avoid data traffic jams in the future through the hugely increased usage!
Smartphones have been a huge driving factor is users using their mobile phones to access the Internet, with iPhones and Blackberrys some of the most popular phones being sold today. There has already been a boom in the take up of mobile broadband but this is likely to not have as widespread use as connecting to the Internet via mobile phones.
Towards the end of 2010 we are due to see the launch of Long Term Evolution (LTE), also known as 4G, that should offer far greater mobile network capacity and faster speeds but until this is fully launched we are unlikely to know how well it is going to be able to cope with the huge increase in demand for mobile Internet.
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October 6, 2009
It is predicted that by 2012 there will be more than one billion mobile broadband users across the world.
Despite this showing that b is going to grow massively there are claims from some of the European mobile networks that the number of mobile broadband users already is affecting their networks!
Ofcom reported that by March 2009 there was three million homes in the UK that were using mobile broadband showing how the popularity of this type of broadband has hugely increased in popularity. So while us as customers are asking for faster and more reliable speeds the mobile network providers are also trying to have to increase the coverage and quality of their networks.
The extra strain that mobile broadband puts on the mobile network providers can be seen from what one French telecoms provider, SFR, estimate that using mobile broadband users 450 times more bandwidth than someone talking on a mobile phone.
The increasing use of Smartphones has helped increase the popularity of mobile broadband and with more and more people wanting to access the Internet on the go this will only keep on increasing.
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October 2, 2009
The parent company of O2, Telefonica, has announced that they are to start trials of next-generation mobile broadband technology in 6 countries, one of which will be the UK.
 The next-generation technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE) when at it’s peak can reach speeds of up to 340Mb which is hugely faster than what most mobile broadband operators offer as a maximum of 7.2Mb currently. In reality as the connection is shared with other users it is expected that a reliable 2-5Mb mobile broadband connection will be achievable.
As the LTE works on 3G technology there is already work on the next replacement for it to work on 4G technology that will be able to reach speeds of up to 1Gb.
These developments and the room for increasing the speed make LTE and mobile broadband ever more popular. If speeds can reach anyway near the advertised top speeds we will genuinely have a viable alternative for fixed line broadband, even when the fibre broadband has been rolled out as that will offer a maximum speed of 40Mb with BT or currently 50Mb with Virgin Media, although these broadband speeds are also likely to rise in the future.
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October 1, 2009
With the launch of T-Mobile mobile broadband gift packs it has signalled the end of T-Mobile offering mobile broadband & laptop deals that have proved very popular.
T-Mobile believe that many people now already have laptops and are looking at other ways that may entice new customers.
New mobile broadband customers can still buy mobile broadband and laptop deals from other mobile broadband providers.
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T-Mobile have moved into gifts as their latest way to sell mobile broadband. What T-Mobile are doing is offering 3 and 12 month gift packs that come complete with a Mobile broadband USB modem and unlimited browsing (checking emails and looking at websites but not watching videos or downloading files) for a one off payment.
The 3 month gift pack costs £44.03 which offers a saving of more than 25% when compared to a comparable pre-pay mobile broadband deal form T-Mobile. The 12 month gift pack comes in at £146.79 which offers a saving of 20%.
The angle that T-Mobile are going for is to keep people connected and in touch with each other, so for example this Christmas instead of people looking for Christmas gifts such as driving experiences they will be hoping people choose a T-Mobile mobile broadband gift pack instead.
The person giving or receiving the gift will do so also not having the worry about any on-going charges as there is just a one off charge up front when they buy the gift and T-Mobile do not charge any extra charges or run-on rates.
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September 22, 2009
A study into mobile broadband speeds has found that on average that mobile broadband users are receiving just 24% of the advertised headline speeds.
The study done by “Broadband Expert” a broadband comparison site tested 3,342 mobile broadband connections between 1st March 2009 and 31st August 2009 with the average download speed coming in at 1.1Mb which is way below the advertised maximum of 4.5Mb.
Vodafone offered the fastest mobile broadband speeds at 1.3Mb, although they also advertised their mobile broadband at speeds up to 7.2Mb and so in effect only delivered speeds at 18% of what they were advertising.
The actual average broadband speeds between the mobile broadband providers was very close, although T-Mobile offered the slowest speed of 0.9Mb.
Vodafone will have a lot of work to do as they have recently started deploying technology that they say will be able to provide mobile broadband speeds up to 14.4Mb. If they continue on with how they have performed in this test then the average speed that users will receive is 2.6Mb.
Also, with MiFi (Mobile WiFi) being introduced there is even more need for the mobile broadband providers to get their broadband speeds faster to make the use of MiFi more usable.
You can test your broadband speed by using a speed test.
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September 14, 2009
Vodafone have followed Threes lead and launched their own mobile WiFi (MiFi) router.
The mobile WiFi router will allow up to 5 WiFi enabled devices to connect to it giving them access to the Internet via the Vodafone mobile broadband network.
To be able to use the WiFi hotspot the devices need to be within 10 meters of the router to be able to connect to the Internet through it.
 The device has an internal battery that offers up to 4 hours of active use from a single charge and is able to offer broadband speeds of up to 7.2Mb and upload speeds of 5.7Mb via the mobile broadband network. Users need not worry about the size either, it is a credit card sized device and so makes it small enough to fit into your pocket.
The device is also able to accommodate 16Gb of storage via it’s expandable micro-SD slot which makes sharing documents, music, video and pictures via WiFi easily done.
The Mobile WiFi device is supplied by Novatel Wireless. Rob Hadley the chief marketing officer for Novatel Wireless said:
“With its leading mobile broadband services and a wide global presence, combined with Novatel’s MiFi portfolio of intelligent mobile hotspots, Vodafone customers will have unprecedented opportunities to access the Internet with all their WiFi devices virtually anywhere and anytime they want. We are very excited to work with Vodafone to provide the most advanced wireless data ecosystem available for customers.”
Mobile broadband users in the UK will have to wait to get their hands on the device as initially it is being made available in Germany, Romania and Spain.
These type of devices are likely to help expand the use of mobile broadband further, so devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players and gaming consoles will be able to connect to the Internet while out and about.
Visit www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile-broadband
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