Ridden with inaccuracies, half truths, and plain old news.
Posts tagged mobile broadband
Mobile Broadband Competition Benefits The Consumer
Jul 3rd
There are five big mobile broadband operators in the UK and a lot of potential customers. The mobile broadband industry has been growing rapidly over the last few years and as consumers become more savvy they expect more for their money. Initially mobile broadband dongles were aimed at the business market and the main benefits focused upon were portability and ease of use. Now that mobile broadband has become a mainstream choice price is much more of an issue. People are much more conscious of monthly costs during a recession and all outgoing must justify themselves.
It has been reported that Orange and Vodafone are both interested in buying T-Mobile. If either are successful the resulting company will be the largest in the industry. Getting new customers signed up is more important than ever for the main providers. As new customers who have previously been offline choose to connect with mobile broadband there is a rush to provide the most eye-catching deal to tempt them into a contract. There is lots of debate about what is the best mobile broadband deal but the best deal for one person may not be the best deal for everyone.
Some companies have been offering free laptops in exchange for a monthly connection fee. Others are offering short term contracts aimed at those not keen on committing to 12 or 18 months of payments. Pay as you go mobile broadband is a popular choice as well. Costs are coming down and monthly download allocations are going up. Coverage continues to improve although ‘notspots‘ are still present (or should that be not present?). As far as I can see the consumer is benefiting from the increased competition. Those of us already in a long term contract wont be feeling the benefit just yet but at least it’s on its way!
Broadband: You Couldn’t Give It Away.
Jun 11th
The Government is very keen for us to all get online. In particular they think that children without internet access are at a major disadvantage compared to their connected friends. Gordon Brown (still PM at the time of press 
) pledged to spend £300m to help poor families get online. He plans to offer vouchers that will be redeemable against computers and monthly ISP costs. The idea behind this is that web access is a vital part of learning. It has been suggested that children from homes with broadband achieve on average higher exam results. I would argue that this probably isn’t direct cause and effect. A broadband connection may just be a sign of a more privileged background. Still it must be a disadvantage to learn without access to all the information that is found online.
Huge amounts of money are also being invested in the mobile broadband infrastructure leading to an increase in coverage and speed that may result in traditional broadband (via a phone line) becoming an outdated idea. There is much debate about where this money should be coming from with the ISPs looking like they are going to have to cash up. The government wants all geographic areas of the country covered as well as all sections of society but doesn’t feel that they should have to pay when mobile broadband providers can expect huge profits.
A new study has found that almost half of those without a broadband connection wouldn’t even use one if it was given to them for free.
43% of adults who currently do not have internet access would remain disconnected even if they were given a free PC and broadband connection.
Perhaps this means that we have almost reached the point where everyone who wants a broadband connection has one. There are people who are quite happy to be offline and have no intention to get connected. I would expect this to be a generational thing seeing as how children these days grow up with web access in the home. It probably wouldn’t even occur to this generation to not be online. Those in our grandparents generation have to make a conscious decision to either ignore the internet or become a silver surfer.
61% of those who said that they had no intention of going online had never used a computer. These must be the kind of people left searching for the ‘any’ key when the dialogue box on screen says ‘press any key to continue’ bless ‘em.
“Broadband is becoming increasingly important to people’s ability to participate in the economy and society. The report shows that some creativity will be required if we wish to capture the imaginations of those who have yet to engage with the benefits the internet may bring,”
Ofcom’s Peter Phillips.
Interestingly 73% of those asked said that they considered broadband to be an essential utility such as water or electricity. This just shows how much of an essential part of (most of) our lives it has become. This is incredible when you consider that it wasn’t even known about by the general population before the 1990s. It’s only going to become more integrated in our lives in the future, to the point where there will be no ‘offline’ – everything will be connected all of the time. The next generation may be amazed when they realise that our grandparents never even touched a computer…
Are Vodaphone Exaggerating their Mobile Broadband Speeds?
May 20th
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Broadband is the speed. Those of us who remember the bad old days of dial-up connections will know how frustrating it can be to wait for a page to load. Whilst Broadband is faster than dial-up it is a well know fact that advertised speeds are not likely to be reached by all users all the time. Speeds are normally listed as ‘up to XX Mbps’ and this has left some people feeling that they are not getting what they pay for.
Even the best mobile broadband connection is by it’s very definition normally not as fast as a fixed line. The benefits of Mobile Broadband include it’s portability and the fact that a landline is not needed. But as the market for Mobile Broadband increases the companies involved get more competitive. Claims about speeds are very closely watched and monitored.
Vodaphone currently advertises speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps but competitors claim that this is unrealistic for most users. They claim that Vodaphones does not provide 3G coverage for all of their users who can mostly expect speeds of around 1.8 Mbps. Vodaphone claims that higher speeds are available in London and at airports but that might be considered irrelevant by most of their users.
Pay as you go mobile broadband provider Three claim that their coverage is greater than that of Vodaphone. They have reported a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority regarding Vodaphone’s speed claims.
4G Mobile Broadband On The Way?
Dec 3rd
Mobile broadband has been taking off in a big way over the last few years. In fact YouGov someone (see comments) reports that a third of all broadband users will be connecting via mobile broadband by 2012. Despite not always receiving a the speed advertised most mobile broadband users seem to be happy connecting via 3G.
The benefits of not having to use a fixed phone line will be familiar to many. Those of us who rent rather than own may not feel the need to have a telephone line in addition to mobile phones. The price of mobile broadband is often lower than fixed line although speeds are normally slower. As mobile broadband becomes more popular pressure is put on traditional broadband suppliers to offer more to maintain their customer base. As the copper phone lines supporting the current system begin to seem a little out dated fibre optic broadband begins to seem like a real possibility. The only problem there is that nobody seems to want to pay to replace the entire system!
The media rich nature of the internet and increasing demands from customers means that connection speeds need to continue to evolve. Those who regularly use the BBC Iplayer and other bandwidth intensive services need speeds to increase so that high definition online video can become the norm.
A recent test of a 4G system produced speeds up to 30 megabits per second. Considering that the average broadband speed (via a landline) in the UK is only 2.95Mbps this would be a massive improvement even for those currently using fixed line broadband. The 4G LTE (long term evolution) service operates on a previously unused band of the mobile spectrum which will be auctioned off next year. This means that broadband service providers will have to put their money on the line if they plan on increasing mobile broadband speeds for their customers.
“We are not able to deliver the speed and consumer experience for the applications coming out, we need to accommodate higher use at a lower price. With 4G LTE we can increase traffic without increasing the cost.”
Joachim Horn, chief technology officer of T-Mobile International
All this means that if wireless broadband providers want to compete with 4G they will need to consider upgrading the infrastructure their service is based on. This race to provide the best system can only be a good thing for those using wifi or mobile broadband.
Mobile Broadband Pros and Cons
Nov 7th
Some people consider wireless broadband to be better than mobile broadband whilst others disagree. The fact of the matter is that it depends on your needs. If you need flexibility and affordability then mobile broadband may be best for you. If however you need quick speeds and a reliable service then normal or wireless broadband may suit you better.
Whilst mobile broadband frees you up from needing to have a landline it can still require a lengthy contract. Whilst some providers allow you to pay and go (£15 for 3gb for example) others have 12 or 18 month contracts. The good news is that if you already have a computer you may be able to skip this as most of the longer contracts are for those receiving a free laptop.
A telephone line might mean more expense but it generally means faster speeds. Whilst we wait for fibre optic broadband using a standard copper phone line is as fast as you can get.
Mobile broadband tends to have lower usage limits such as 1, 3 or 7gb a month fixed line broadband is often unlimited. Where mobile broadband speeds tend to be around 1mbps normal broadband or wifi is often up to 8mbps.
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