broadband connections are expected to reach 499 million by 2012 having risen from 323 million connections in 2007 according to Gartner Inc, equating to a 7% rise.

A survey found that in 5 countries 60% of households are already connected to broadband, and many others are set to follow, with a predicted 17 countries achieving 60% penetration or more by 2012. The five countries where over 60% of households are connected to broadband are Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea and Hong Kong. Countries with small populations or a government-backed broadband scheme have the advantage as far as broadband penetration is concerned. Moreover, the number of households with a broadband connection is likely to increase further.

“Depending on the specific market conditions, availability of Internet-enabled devices and the continued impact of broadband on consumer lifestyles, we expect some markets will have a broadband ceiling at 80 percent penetration or greater,” said Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Broadband penetration will increase, especially in the geographically larger markets, as current broadband providers continue to deploy their services, as newer technologies (wireless broadband, such as WiMAX) attract subscribers, and as users experience firsthand how speed enhances their Internet sessions” she added.

The six biggest ISPs in the UK have struck a deal with the government and the BPI to clamp down on illegal filesharing. The ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, or MoU, comes ahead of an announcement to be issued by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform later today, threatening ISPs with prosecution if they fail to tackle unlawful downloading of music and videos.

“We have looked to ISPs to acknowledge their responsibility to help deal with illegal file-sharing, engage in communicating the issue to their customers, and put in place procedures necessary to effectively tackle repeated unlawful file-sharing,” said a spokesperson for the BPI, the body that represents the British recorded music business.

Unsurprisingly, the list includes both BT and Virgin Media who have both already threatened to get medieval on errant customers. The four other signatories include Orange, Tiscali and Sky and the Carphone Warehouse - we were surprised to see that Charles Dunstone’s group had signed up, given that they had in the past told the BPI where to shove it with regard to adopting a three-strikes rule.

The new agreement sees ISPs adopting universal measures to deal with repeat offenders as well as a plan to commit to the development of more legal music download sites. The deal will involve providers sending warning letters to thousands of illegal downloaders telling them that their activities are being monitored and that they could face prosecution if they continue to flout the law. The crackdown is being hailed by the government as the “world’s first solution” agreed by the industry to tackle illegal file-sharing; it is estimated that last year alone around 6.5 million people in Britain downloaded files illegally.

Parents who receive the letters will be in for a shock, since many are unaware that their children have been downloading music, films and TV programmes illegally. They could be blacklisted and have their internet use curbed under the new plans. Households that ignore the warning letters could have their download speeds massively reduced, making it harder and more time-consuming to download large files, or even be blocked from using the internet altogether.

Concerns raised by this ruling include the prospect of subscribers having their wireless connections hacked and used by someone else for illegal downloads - under current proposals, this could see customers who are victims of pharming being held accountable for the illegal actions of others.

Orange are yet again to give away laptops for free, to users who sign up for their mobile broadband services for 24 months.

Customers who subscribe to a 24-month contract through Orange’s high-street shops or by phone will receive a free Asus Eee PC 900 16G (pictured) worth around £235, as well as a USB modem on Orange’s £25-per-month tariff called ‘Internet Everywhere.’ 100 free texts are included in the plan, as well as 3GB data usage.

An HP 6730s Intel Celeron laptop is available on the £35-a-month contract, and customers on the £40-a-month tariff will receive an HP 6730s Intel Core 2 Duo with an Orange USB dongle. Customers on the £45-per-month tariff will also receive an HP 6730s Intel Core 2 Duo with embedded SIM card. Hewlett-Packard will provide a choice of three laptops for businesses, which come with a 500 minute Wi-Fi allowance and a 5GB data policy.

Orange UK devices director François Mahieu said the operator plans to increase the number of laptops on offer in the future and bundle in fixed-line broadband on some packages: “Over time, we will be looking to expand our offering even further, with more suppliers who are at the forefront of laptop technology, making it even easier for our customers to connect to the internet seamlessly, whether it is for work or play.”

Broadband is helping to redefine the role of the modern sportsperson, as thousands of online gamers train to compete in the worldwide Digital Games in China this autumn.

In China digital gaming is immensely popular, with many internet cafes open right through the night to accommodate the many workers who “train” online in their spare time. For the first time this year the Digital World Games tournament will be an official affiliated event of the Olympic Games. Trails for the games have been held online from 11^th June, continuing until 27^th July, but the actual event will take place in Beijing in October.

“This will be the largest online video tournament yet,” says Ted Owen, chairman and chief executive of GGL Global Gaming, the largest social networking group for gamers worldwide, and an official sponsor of the event, hosted by the Chinese Government.

The tournament will use the most popular games consoles including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PCs, and feature a whole range of sports games from NBA Live 08 and TrackMania racing games to real-time strategy games and first-person shooter games such as Counter-Strike 1.6 and Call of Duty.

Whilst many online athletes may not have the same toned physique as their traditional counterparts, they are often equally dedicated to training. 20-year-old gamer Patrick O’Day from San Fransisco works as a parking attendant during the day, but as soon as he hits home after his eight hour shift, he’s back on his XBox, often staying up as late as 3am to practise.

Broadband gaming has particularly taken off in the Far East, where gamers can enjoy speeds of up to 100Mbps.

Customers who sign up to Vodafone mobile broadband will have the chance to purchase a laptop with built-in 3G connectivity. Vodafone has teamed up with Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo to offer a new range of ThinkPad notebooks with mobile broadband as standard, which will retail at around the same price as a regular laptop.

Vodafone customers will be able to purchase new ThinkPad notebooks in the T and X Series and on all of Lenovo’s new ThinkPad SL Series notebooks. Vodafone is offering a no-obligation 30-day free trial to customers who buy one of the laptops. At the end of the trial, users will be given the chance to take out a contract, starting at around £12 per month (not including international roaming). The SL series of notebooks is aimed at small businesses and comes with shiny casing, rather than Lenovo’s customary matt black exterior. According to analysts at the information technology research and advisory firm Gartner, “internal 3G modules will perform significantly better than external solutions for signal strength.”

Vodafone UK director of enterprise Mark Bond said: “Mobile broadband has come of age with its inclusion by default into Lenovo’s entire range of ThinkPad notebooks. This move clearly demonstrates Lenovo’s commitment to delivering real benefit to business customers.”

Customers who wish to get online with a different mobile operator will not find it so easy: they will need to install a different SIM and download alternative connection software, instead of the pre-installed software which only works with Vodafone.

Vodafone says that laptops with pre-installed 3G are likely to become the norm in about a year. In order to generate sales, the operator is offering roaming with unlimited data usage from £8.50 a day in Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA.

One in five people want wireless internet access while relaxing at the beach, while others would like to access their emails at the pub, relaxing in the garden and on holiday according to a recent survey conducted by T-Mobile.

It seems that Britons, fifty percent of whom spend less than 30 minutes a day out of doors, want more flexibility when it comes to getting online. Indeed, half of those questioned said that they would like access to the internet wherever they go, and 37% said they should be allowed to work outside now that wireless internet is so widespread.

“Mobile broadband has reached a tipping point and is now hitting the mainstream,” says Richard Warmsley, head of internet and entertainment services at T-Mobile. “Consumers are used to taking their laptops out and about with them and they expect to be connected - whether that’s in the garden, at the office or in the park.”

Already one in four T-Mobile customers has signed up to its mobile broadband package.

However, customers need to watch where they access their mobile broadband and must make themselves aware of download limits and charges. Only this month IT consultant Iayn Donson landed with a £31,000 phone bill after downloading an episode of Prison Break while travelling in Portugal. In March another Vodafone customer was charged £11,000 for downloading four episodes of Friends abroad.

T-Mobile have unrolled high speed HSUPA across its network, allowing for faster mobile broadband services, and have launched some new packages allowing customers to take advantage of the faster speeds. Both the 12 month and 24 month T-Mobile Plus (3GB) and Max (10GB) Mobile Broadband plans are now available to buy with either the standard USB Dongle, or the new high-powered USB Stick modem.

The T-Mobile Stick modem is available for either a one-off £19.99 fee for customers taking out a 12 month contract, or free for those who sign up for 24 months.

HSUPA, which stands for High Speed Uplink Packet Access, is a 3G technology that allows users to upload content from their mobile phones to websites at speeds of up to 1.4mbps. T-Mobile has also improved download speeds on the HSPDA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) enabled 3G network to 7.2Mbps in the Greater London area - T-Mobile plan to extend this to other major cities in the UK towards the end of the year, enabling maximum mobile broadband speeds of up to 4.5Mbps in these areas.

Analyst firm Berg Insight recently published a report which estimated that the number of laptops with mobile broadband connectivity in Europe will increase from the 8.4 million recorded last year to 49 million in 2013, an increase of 34.1% year-on-year.

PC notebooks will have pre-installed mobile broadband technology for use away from the home in addition to a fixed connection. Once the majority of laptops intended for the European market have embedded HSPA/LTE chipsets as standard in the coming three to five years, users will be able to directly insert a SIM card into their laptops for mobile broadband freedom. Having said that, we’re pretty much already there technologically speaking; the plug ‘n’ play Dongles, available from the likes of Orange, T-Mobile and 3 are essentially SIM cards and a USB attachment encased in aesthetically pleasing plastic jackets.

The explosion in mobile broadband technology is likely to put a strain on mobile operators. In terms of volume of data, mobile data traffic already exceeds that of mobile voice traffic.

According to Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight, serious network investments are needed if mobile operators are to keep up with demand from consumers: “On the one hand [mobile operators] have a highly attractive proposition – a novel mobile service with high ARPU [average revenue per user]. On the other hand, the very popularity of the service stretches the mobile network infrastructure to its utmost limit – threatening to degrade the level of service for all subscribers.”

Vodafone famously shelled out millions to invest in high-speed mobile broadband access, and are now reaping the benefits, currently able to boast the fastest speeds going.

Mobile broadband could become free to use as early as 2009, according to broadband comparison site Top 10 Broadband. In a bid to out-do competition, mobile providers have cut broadband charges dramatically over the last year, to the extent that further price-cuts could render the service free-of-charge anyhow.

According to Jessica McArdle of Top 10 Broadband, “With competition reaching its zenith, it is only a matter of time before mobile broadband modems – dongles – are offered free with mobile phone packages in the same way as ISPs such as TalkTalk offer ‘free’ home broadband with home phone deals”.

At the moment around one in ten people use mobile broadband to get online. However, with faster and more powerful handsets, as well as cheaper monthly price plans, broadband on-the-go is becoming a practical and viable alternative to a fixed connection. Huge price-drops in the mobile broadband market over the past year mean that consumers no longer consider it the luxury they used to. For example, at just £16 a month, Vodafone’s mobile broadband service is 65% cheaper and four times faster that its £45 deal of 2006. Top 10 Broadband lists 3, T-Mobile and Orange as other key providers offering mobile broadband packages which start at £10-£15.

Unsurprisingly, the drive for mobile broadband is coming from younger consumers. A recent study conducted by Sony Ericsson in over 30 countries concluded that 15-24 year olds increasingly expect the same service they experience on the internet to transfer to their mobiles.

“The youth are setting the scene,” said Vishnu Singh, regional manager for the Ericsson Consumer Lab in Southeast Asia. “[They] are now expecting mobile broadband services to be as rich as the Internet”.

Tom Alexander, the new(ish) boss of Orange has announced plans to both concentrate on pushing mobile broadband and invest more in customer service for its mobile phone and fixed-line broadband customers.

Alexander, the former chief executive of Virgin Mobile, quit last year, convincing three of his old droogs from Virgin to climb aboard the good ship Orange in the process. Andrew Ralston, Gerry McQuade, and Steven Day all used to work for Virgin, but defected to Orange in January, to helm operations, development, and personnel respectively.

Alexander said that he plans to invest into 3G networks, so that mobile broadband users can access the faster up to 7.2Mbps speeds currently available to selected Vodafone customers. And not a moment too soon – Vodafone are reportedly all set to take over Tiscali’s UK broadband and fixed-line customers, which will see them leapfrog Orange in subscriber numbers. Orange currently have around 1.7 million broadband customers, wheras Tiscali are slightly ahead with over 2 million.