Mobile Broadband is Mostly Being Used at Home as an Alternative to a Fixed Line

Mobile broadband used to be mostly sold as a portable way to access the internet. Before the Blackberry became popular having a pay as you go mobile broadband dongle meant that you could check your emails when you were out of the office or on a train. Business men and women where the core market and you certainly didn't get a free laptop.

Recent research by Virgin Media has shown that 78% of their mobile broadband customers predominantly use their dongles at home. This shows how the mobile broadband market has changed; these days it is often seen as a cheaper and easier alternative to having a phone line. Why pay to have a phone line installed and then pay a monthly fee if you have an inclusive mobile phone contract? Why buy a laptop when you can get one for free with mobile broadband?

There are of course reasons why some people stick with fixed line broadband (lets not get into that debate now). People who rent or don't have much of a disposable income are increasingly choosing the mobile option. The fact that they aren't being as mobile with their laptop doesn't surprise me, particularly with the rise in Smart Phones that have a decent 3g connection.

Mobile Broadband to Overtake Fixed Line Connections by The End of the Year

Mobile broadband subscriptions (including high speed internet connections on mobile phones) are expected to reach 600 million by the end of the year. Fixed line subscriptions look set to reach 500 Million. That means for the first time ever there will be more mobile broadband connections than those operating via a phone line.



The scale of mobile broadband take-up is staggering, the International Telecoms Union reported a 50% increase in subscriptions over the last year alone. Mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 4.6 Billion by the end of the year so clearly the percentage of mobile phones with high speed internet access remains low. Pay as you go mobile broadband and free laptop deals continue to grow in popularity.

the increase in connections could be negative for the consumer in the short term but will lead to improvements in infrastructure likely to benefit all users in the long term. Increased demand will see the current 3g infrastructure strained but improvements will be made. Whilst even the best mobile broadband can fall behind fixed line in terms of speed consumers will expect improvements and providers will be looking to proved them.

Broadband Tax To Be Law By Next Election

The minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms has said that the new broadband tax will be law by the time the election comes around. Speaking at a debate in London Mr Timms said that the tax is still a priority and will be 'presented to parliament as part of the Finance Bill'.

The proposed tax which aims to raise cash to improve the nations broadband infrastructure will cost those with fixed phone lines 50 pence per month. The idea for the broadband tax was proposed in the Digital Britain report in order to finance the government's plan to provide 'broadband for all' by 2012.

Those without a fixed line will not have to pay the tax another reason why mobile broadband is best when it comes to saving money if not for download speeds. Pay as you go mobile broadband users will be able to avoid the tax which may help to provide them with a fibre optic connection (eventually).

The tax has proved to be controversial with the Conservatives saying that they would oppose it. Some have said that broadband providers should foot the bill as they stand to profit from increased broadband coverage whilst others have questioned the ability of a 50p tax to pay for a fibre optic network.

Steve Weller of uSwitch.com says that the proposed tax is 'a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.'

"We are talking about a digitally dependent economy and society, and as such, the Government should be looking to share the burden across businesses and consumers alike."

Orange Launches Mobile Broadband Contract for Under £5 Per Month

The mobile broadband industry suffered some negative press recently when Ofcom released it's data about average download speeds and coverage. The average speed achieved is actually considerably less that the 'up to' speeds normally advertised. This will come as no big surprise to most but Ofcom argued that the main providers should be more clear about the speeds customers are actually likely to experience.

Orange has attempted to get customers back on side by offering a new low cost pay monthly mobile broadband package. The contract is the first to be offered for under £5 per month and comes with a free dongle. Users are tied in for 18 months giving a total cost of around £90.

Other new contracts recently released offer pay as you go and even month-by-month mobile broadband contracts. There is now a much wider range of contracts on offer to the 9/10 homes which have yet to sign up for mobile broadband.

The downside to Orange's new contract is that is only offers a meager 500mb monthly download limit. This might be enough to check your emails and browse occasionally but it wouldn't last long for most users. The deal is only being offered to those who already have a fixed line broadband or mobile phone contract with Orange.

Some Broadband Users Would Get Better Speeds Using Mobile Broadband

One of the downsides of mobile broadband is that you are less likely to get a great download speed than with a fixed line connection. Speed are improving as is coverage and these are only likely to improve as time goes by. However when I speak to people who have mobile broadband the most common complaint is not that they can't get a signal just that it isn't fast enough.

A recent report by Top 10 Mobile Broadband has said that those in certain areas are likely to be able to get quicker download speeds by switching to a mobile connection. The areas affected, which include Marlow and Henley-on-Thames, currently only get speeds of around 0.5Mbps for traditional fixed-line broadband. 0.5mbps is surprisingly slow connection for a fixed line, perhaps due to distances from a major phone exchange.

Whatever the reason for the poor connection those affected could get better speeds using mobile broadband. Some of the best mobile broadband connections would offer quite a change of pace to browsers in Marlow or Henley on Thames.