Archive for the 'Mobile Broadband News' Category

Ofcom reveal first research into UK mobile broadband speeds

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on May 27, 2011
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Ofcom have today relvealed the results of their first research piece into mobile broadband, specifically the use of dongles and data cards to access the mobile web. Ofcom stated that it deliberately excluded the use of smartphones in their research, as they intend to carry out another test speficically looking at smartphone usage.

Ofcom’s consumer research suggests that 17 per cent of UK households use mobile broadband, with 7 per cent of those surveyed saying that they actually use mobile broadband as their primary means of accessing online services – up from the 3 per cent of people who claimed this in 2009.

Mobile Broadband Speeds

Research carried out on behalf of Ofcom into the average mobile broadband speeds in the uk, assessed the broadband speeds of 4.2  million individuals. It was discovered that the average mobile broadband speed in the UK between September and November 2010, was 1.5Mbps. Ofcom compare this speed to the speed of fixed line broadband, which towards the end of 2010, was found to be on average around 6.2Mbps – a significant difference.

Ofcom differentiated their average mobile broadband speed test results based on the quality of the signal coverage in each area. They found that in areas with excellent 3G coverage, speeds were on average 2.1Mbps, 0.5Mbps than the nationwide average. The peak usage period for mobile broadband was found to be between 8pm and 10pm, where in areas of excellent coverage, average mobile broadband speeds fell to 1.7Mbps.

Which mobile broadband provider is fastest?

Ofcom’s research also commented on the varying speeds that each of the main mobile operators are capable of, based on speed and latency, the two factors which influence the real world mobile broadband speed.

It was found that 3 Mobile, O2 and Vodafone had faster average download speeds, than T-mobile and Orange. It’s interesting to hear that O2 offers the mobile broadband with the lowest average latency – lower than 3 Mobile, Orange and Vodafone. This essentially means that O2 are able to serve web pages more quickly than it’s competitors.

The Future of Mobile Broadband?

Ofcom concluded that mobile broadband speeds would remain significantly below the speeds offered by fixed line broadband, at least until next generation 4G services are rolled out, which is expected to begin in 2013, when the analouge broadband spectrum is auctioned.

If you’re looking at getting your first mobile broadband connection, or perhaps upgrading, Broadband.org can help you to decide, just go to http://mobile.broadband.org/ to find comprehensive listings. We’ve also got a massive range of mobile broadband reviews, for all of the big operators including 3 Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and O2.

Everything Everywhere and BT Wholesale to run UK’s first 4G Mobile Broadband live trial

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on May 25, 2011
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Nework provide Everything Everywhere (Owner of Orange and T-Mobile), have announced plans for the first UK trial of ’4g LTE (Long Term Evolution)’ mobile broadband technology.
LTE has recently been rolled out by network operators in the US, and claims to be able to deliver much faster mobile broadband speeds than existing 3G networks.
The trial, which will be run in conjunction with BT Wholesale will begin in September 2011, to begin with just being offered to around 200 residents St Newlyn East, Cornwall (South West England).
On their website, Everything Everywhere state that the trial will primarily be used “to showcase the benefits and potential of 4G LTE¹ mobile technology for customers”, and that it’s the first time that mobile and fixed line broadband have come together in this way.
Tom Alexander, CEO, Everything Everywhere, said:
“Our ambition is to have the best 4G network and be pioneers in enabling Britain’s superfast wireless future . We strongly believe that, by sharing our network and mobile assets in this way, we can make a valuable contribution to the economics of rural broadband services. Our work with BT is providing a test bed for new technologies such as 4G LTE which, with the correct allocation of sub 1GHz spectrum from the Government, has the potential to make a real impact on the way in which we communicate in the future.
The Government has previously stated its desire for the UK to have the best in class superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015, and we hope to help this vision become a reality.”
Sally Davis, CEO of BT Wholesale, said:
“BT is committed to bringing the highest speed broadband to everyone in the UK, whether that’s over fibre, copper or airwaves. This is a great mixed economy example of innovation and collaboration by two organisations pushing the boundaries of technology for the benefit of customers.
The expectation of what we will learn is truly exciting, as much for the customers who are unable to get a broadband service in a number of rural communities across the country.”
It’s been said that the location for the real world test has been chosen thanks to it’s remote location, and lack of existing network infrastructure. It’s claimed that if successful, this trial could forge the way for 4G to be able to provide a high speed and high quality internet connection to areas which are traditionally unable to connect.
If you’re a resident of St Newlyn East or it’s surrounding areas and want to register for your interest to participate in the trial, just go to www.4Gwirelessbroadbandtrial.co.uk and complete the short form.

Parliament Urges OFCOM To Increase Mobile Broadband Coverage

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on May 24, 2011
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Members of Parliament in the UK have this week proposed a motion which would mean that OFCOM had an obligation to extend mobile broadband coverage to 98% of the UK population, an obligation which is currently set at 95%.

Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith & the Borders stated;

“That this House recognises that rural businesses and rural communities across the UK are isolated and undermined by slow broadband and the lack of mobile voice and mobile broadband coverage; urges Ofcom to increase the coverage obligation attached to the 800MHz spectrum licence to 98 per cent.; and calls upon the Government to fulfil its commitment to build both the best superfast broadband network in Europe and provide everyone in the UK with a minimum of 2 Mbps by 2015.”

Due to the meteoric rise of mobile broadband usage in the UK, MP’s are suggesting that the auction for licence of the 800MHz radio spectrum due to take place soon should have a legal obligation to dedicate a large proportion to boost capacity of mobile broadband. This motion is essentially looking out for those in rural locations. Current coverage in and around most urban locations is sufficient however a vast part of the population living in more rural areas are yet to gain accecs to high speed mobile broadband.

Broadband.org have compiled mobile broadband coverage maps for all of the UK’s mobile broadband operators, including mobile broadband coverage maps for 3 Mobile, Vodafone mobile broadband, t-mobile mobile broadband and Virgin mobile broadband.

Vodafone set to expand high speed mobile broadband network

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on May 22, 2008
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Vodafone is set to roll out its upto 7.2Mbps mobile broadband service to six more cities across the UK. At present these top speeds are only achievable in pockets of London and in large airports.

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the six cities are expected to be Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Reading.

3 Complains about vodafone 7.2Mbps claim

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on May 22, 2008
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3 mobile have made an official complaint to the ASA (advertising standards association) against vodafone mobile broadbands advertising of its “7.2Mbps” download speed.

3 claim that the 7.2Mpbs speeds are not a true reflection of most customers can expect to receive as these speeds are only available in small pockets of vodafones network.

This has come after vodafones recent price cuts bring there products into line with 3′s packages . 3′s services are currently advertised with speeds of upto 2.8Mbps

Going by what mobile broadband users have been saying in our broadband.org mobile forum I think 3 have a good case as the 7.2Mbps will rarely if ever be achieved by a normal user !

Woolworths to sell 3 Dongle

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on May 22, 2008
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Woolworth’s have become the first non specialist retailer to sell 3G broadband dongles in its stores , it is currently offering 3 mobiles pay as you go mobile broadband package , although they have got off to a slow start their buyer said

Once the market starts to get bigger and people start to understand it, we anticipate real growth in the category. It’s something we want to be involved in.’

3 curently offer the pay as you go dongle for just £49.99 and they are the only network offering a pay as you go deal although vodafone is expected to be bringing out a similar pay as you go package in the coming weeks.

for more information please visit the 3 mobile broadband website

700% increase in data traffic on 3 Mobile

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on May 16, 2008
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3 UK are reporting a massive increse in data traffic on its network since it launched its market leading dongle last October.  the companys CEO Kevin Russell said the network had gained half a million new user “from nowhere” and told of plans to share parts of its network with T mobile as well as plans to increase its 3G speeds.

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for more information on packages and prices visit 3 Mobile broadband

Will mobile broadband take over fixed broadband?

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on May 16, 2008
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3G mobile broadband is not new and data cards have been around for a long time, but it has only been in the last year that we have seen mobile broadband packages that can seriously compete with fixed line services. With packages from £10 per month with 1GB included these mobile broadband packages offer a real alternative to fixed line services particularly when there is no additional line rental to pay unlike traditional  adsl services.

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At the moment the download limits offered by mobile broadband packages a fairly light compared to fixed line services with caps of around 7GB for £25  they are therefore  not suitable for heavy users and downloaders , but this should steadily improve as the demand for mobile broadband increases and the networks drive on to expand their share of the broadband market.Some reports suggest that by 2010 fixed line services will be overtaken by mobile service – but only time will tell ,as there is still many unanswered questions about 3g mobile broadband like how will the the networks cope with increased levels of contention on the networks with the increasing amount of data users.

I personally think that with improvements and future speed increases of fixed line broadband services the majority of home and business users will still opt for fixed line services although i am sure mobile broadband will be a close contender.

1 in 4 T-mobile customer buy mobile broadband

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on May 16, 2008
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T mobile’s first quarter results were recently announced showing that 1 in ever 4 of their customers are taking mobile broadband and they have predicted that the number of mobile broadband sales will quadruple by the close of 2008

Jim Hyde spoke (UK chief executive) said

“We are seeing strong growth in the uptake of mobile broadband. During 2007, just 4 per cent of new contract customers signed up for mobile broadband but this has now shot up to 25 per cent. The increase in our non-voice revenues is a direct reflection of this positive trend.”

O2 Mobile Broadband – USB dongle launched

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on April 17, 2008
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O2 have finally entered the USB mobile broadband market with their snazzy new dongle pictured below.

The dongle is in the shops and available online from today as part of a mobile broadband package with speeds of up to 1.8Mbps and a 3GB monthly download limits -

Its available free on an 18 month contract or for a one off £119.99 payment for a 1 month rolling contract. the monthly line rental is £20 for existing 02 customers and £30 for new customers

The bundle and will also include unlimited free Wi Fi access via the “Cloud” network in a similar way to t-mobile offering free hotspot access.

visit the O2 website for more information

o2 dongle