Well, it’s the first of July – pinch, punch, etc – and Tiscali were supposed to announce that they had found someone to take over their European broadband operations… Problem is, they’re still undecided on the sale of their business.

First of all, the offer made by the Carphone Warehouse was rejected outright by Tiscali, and then it looked as though Vodafone were going to step into the broadband market, which would have put them ahead of mobile rivals O2 and Orange by a considerable amount – then this deal was scuppered at the last minute, with no indication from either party as to why, or indeed what the future for Tiscali and it’s millions of UK subscribers was likely to be.

Tiscali had stated that they would have made an announcement by the end of June – it’s now July, and so far, nessuna risposta.

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.

Vodafone have reportedly done a volte face and pulled out of their bid to take over the residential broadband, home phone and digital TV services of triple-play provider Tiscali, according to the Financial Times.

Reportedly, the two companies failed to agree on a sum which would see Vodafone acquiring Tiscali’s broadband businesses not only in the UK, but across Europe as well. The map to the right shows the extent of Tiscali’s continental reach. Lime green indicates countries where Tiscali operates independently, and the purple countries are markets where the Tiscali brand is present, but the company does not wholly own the service provided, like the AOL/Carphone Warehouse situation here in the UK.

Speaking of Charles Dunston and the gang, Carphone also dropped out of the Tiscali bidding war back in May. This leaves Sky, Swisscom and fellow Italian comms provider Wind Telecomunicazioni.

EDIT: The map wouldn’t display for some reason in the original post. The bug has been fixed, and now you can witness it in all its cartographic glory.

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.

In a surprising, but not unexpected turn of events, Tiscali have just told the world that they plan to sell off their broadband business outright to Vodafone, the world’s biggest mobile phone network.

Taking over Tiscali’s network would see Vodafone automatically leap into fourth place behind BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse, and become a triple-play provider, selling mobile and fixed line calls as well as broadband – no news yet as to whether the Tiscali TV IPTV package will be bundled as part of the deal or not. This will put the wind up mobile network rivals O2 and Orange, who would be competing for market space with Vodafone on multiple new fronts.

Last year it was revealed that Toucan – owned by Tiscali via Pipex – launched their own mobile phone service which piggybacked off of the T-Mobile network. It’s unclear as to what will happen to customers who signed up for contracts with Toucan, whether their contracts will remain, be taken over of Vodafone or T-Mobile or whether customers will be given a choice.

Earlier last month, a Carphone Warehouse bid was rejected by the Tiscali. As well as Toucan, Tiscali also own the Pipex and Nildram networks.

Vodafone have announced that over the summer they plan to roll out their super-fast 7.2Mbps mobile broadband services to major cities throughout the UK, supplying a further 3 million residents with fast mobile broadband access.

Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Reading are set to get the Stick treatment over the summer, with rollout due to commence next month, and finish by the autumn.

“The recent acceleration in the take up of mobile broadband has demonstrated just how hungry consumers are for internet access wherever they are,” says Nick Read, Vodafone UK CEO. “As a result we are significantly investing in our network so that more customers can experience our award winning fast and reliable mobile broadband network.”

The Vodafone Stick is an advanced plug and play device which allows users to access the interweb via high speed 3G connections. Currently, the top 7.2Mbps speeds are only available to Londoners and customers waiting around in major airports. Customers waiting around at Terminal 5 will have plenty of time on their hands.

Vodafone have also halved the price of their Mobile Broadband to just £15 a month in February, and have recently launched a 5GB monthly package for the USB Modem and Stick packages. The sum of £25 a month gets you 5GB of mobile usage, and the length of the contract you take out will alter the price of whichever of the two devices you choose.

Leading mobile networks and broadband providers Orange and O2 have finally moved in on the mobile broadband market, following on from T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3.

Both companies are punting mobile surfing to users, allowing them to connect to the net on the move by way of a plug and play USB dongle. Both of the packages offer customers 3GB worth of monthly surfing over their networks, with the O2 packages including unlimited Wi-Fi access via The Cloud’s 7,500 UK hotspots.

O2 Mobile Broadband automatically hooks users up to the fastest connection available – GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA, or Wi-Fi, and the plug and play aspect of the USB dongle makes it super easy to use. The dongle also comes with a stylish LED display panel which indicates what network is being used, so you’ll be able to easily estimate what speed you should be getting. Talking of which, for the moment broadband speeds of O2 Mobile Broadband will be around 1.8Mbps, which O2 plan to accelerate speeds to a faster average of 3.6Mbps this June. Orange Mobile Broadband also comes with speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, although there have been no official noises on speed increases yet. However, Orange has the edge over O2 in terms of cost.

There are two separate price plans available on O2, a £20 a month 18 month contract, which includes the price of the USB dongle, or a rolling monthly package also costing £20 a month, plus a one-off charge for the dongle (£120). Orange, by contrast only have one price plan, and 18-monther which costs users just £15 a month, significantly cheaper over a year and half when compared with the O2 equivalent; the price of the Orange USB dongle is also included in the price.