UK Mobile network operators 3 are getting ready to launch a new broadband service which will allow laptop users to have portable access for as little as £10 a month.
Launching in September, the as of yet unnamed service will allow users to access the net at download speeds of 2.8Mbps by simply plugging a USB stick into their laptop and connecting to the net wirelessly.
Anyone can sign up for this service, you don’t have to be a 3 mobile customer, although if you are, you will be able to qualify for a discount off the total cost of the USB stick, the price of which normally is mooted to be £99. There will be a choice of Lite (1GB), Plus (3GB) or Max (7GB) for £10, £15 or £25 per month, with 10p per megabyte should you need additional monthly space.
3 says that this broadband will be free up users from a landline at home, as it will be able to be used anywhere in the home and on the move. However, much like the much-griped about LLU postcode lottery, the service will only be available in selected areas to begin with, with a gradual nationwide rollout to follow; to begin with, 3’s mobile broadband will only cover London within the North Circular, Birmingham and areas to the north, and areas in Scotland and Ireland. 3 hope to provide this service to at least 85 per cent of the UK by December this year.
This is bad news for rival mobile networks Orange , Virgin and O2/Be, who have their own broadband interests to worry about. More on this as and when we hear it.
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Sam Lloyd said on 28 Aug 2007 at 3:37 pm #
This could be interesting… provided it works of course. Will the wireless broadband signal be delivered over the 3 3G mobile network?
If it is, then some people are definitely going to have problems!