Free mobile broadband could be less than a year away if broadband comparison site Top 10 Broadband is to be believed.
As competition hots up in the mobile broadband market, it is, says Top I0 broadband, only a matter of time before a network operator breaks cover with ‘free’ mobile broadband bundled in with a mobile voice deal. With ISPs such as TalkTalk currently offering ‘free’ broadband with home phone deals, the business model already exists and should logically transfer to the mobile market in the form of giveaway broadband modems.
A series of price drops in the mobile broadband market means that mobile internet access is no longer perceived to be the luxury product it was two years ago. These price drops have led to mass market penetration mirroring the take off of mobile phones in the mid 1990s, when they went from status symbol to staple communication device. Considering the impact that mobile phones had on the home phone market, the writing could be on the wall for traditional home broadband.
Jessica McArdle of Top 10 broadband commented: “The public has an insatiable appetite for cheap mobile broadband, and this hunger has led to packages that are cheaper, faster and more inclusive than they were two years ago. This move towards free mobile broadband is especially notable when you look at Vodafone’s current flagship mobile broadband offering. At just £15 a month this package is 65% cheaper, four times faster and three times more inclusive in terms of download allowance than its £45 equivalent of two years ago.”
Data charges too have fallen from £45 per Gb to just £3.57 per Gb (3’s current Mobile Broadband Max package) and £3.50 per Gb (T-Mobile’s current Web’n’Walk Max package).
Innovative design, too, has driven the uptake of mobile broadband and 3 have been the trend-setters in this market with the launch of their pink and black mobile broadband modems. Mobile broadband ‘dongles’ and ‘sticks’ currently on the market are better looking and more intelligent than the old-style mobile data cards that were very much the domain of tech-savvy business users. Not surprisingly mobile broadband has become particularly appealing to fashion-conscious younger markets.
The key mobile operators offering cut-price mobile broadband at present are 3, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange whose packages start at £10 and £15.
The future viability of mobile broadband relies on mobile phone operators working closely to implement developing standards such as mobile broadband ‘LTE’ (Long Term Evolution). The implementation of LTE will improve mobile spectral efficiency, improve quality and most importantly reduce data handling costs. With such advancements on the horizon, mobile broadband could well be offered for free as early as next year.
Meanwhile, mobile phone operator 3 has announced a range of broadband packages aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The network is offering a new 1GB mobile broadband service from £8.51 per month, while customers can also sign up for 5GB and 7GB tariffs priced at £12.77 and £21.27 per month respectively. All the contracts include a free USB modem to connect via a laptop or PC.
SMEs often suffer problems with their broadband service but only a small proportion complain or change provider.
A new study by analyst firm Quocirca found that around one in three firms encounter difficulty connecting via broadband, while 29 per cent said they receive a lower performance than they expected.
Despite the difficulties, some 88 per cent of SMEs plan to remain with their current provider though, paradoxically, 72 per cent cited reliability as the most important factor when choosing business broadband.
