3 Mobile Broadband

3 Mobile Broadband Articles

3 Mobile Broadband supplies you with articles about mobile broadband. Find interesting facts and stories about the countless possibilties of 3 Mobile Broadband.

Mobile Broadband, who is it for?

Saturday 01st August 2009 14:08

You have heard about mobile broadband, but you are not sure if it is for you? This article aims to explain the unique possibilities of it and who could make the most of the wonderful new mobile broadband world. Nowadays, more and more people use mobile broadband. The internet and emails have become an essential part of our lives and getting online from anywhere in the country has obvious advantages. All you need is a 3G mobile phone or a USB modem and your laptop. With mobile broadband you can do everything you are accustomed to from your home broadband while you are on the go, but who really needs it? Commuters The journey to work not only is quite boring; it can be a waste of precious time. With mobile broadband you can get ahead of your colleagues and work through your daily correspondence or check on market trends and developments. Students Every student knows that the internet has become a vital part in researching and writing your course work or thesis. Quite often it involves group work and generally speaking, students like to get out and about. Why not combine the two and meet your peers in a park or your favourite coffee shop? The possibilities of mobile broadband are countless and best of all, there is no need to be tied in an expensive and inflexible contract. People who are travelling a lot If you spend your time in different cities, countries or even continents, mobile broadband was made for you. It doesn`t matter if you need the internet for business or leisure purposes, you will enjoy the freedom to get online at anytime from everywhere within the range of a 3G mobile phone network. Everybody Since access to information and availability are key success factors in many people`s lives, mobile broadband has its advantages for everybody and it is cheaper than you might think. In order to find out more about 3 Mobile Broadband you only have to visit www.3-mobiles-broadband.co.uk.

Making Money on Mobile Broadband?

Saturday 18th July 2009 18:07

If you were one of the people that jumped on the mobile broadband band wagon back in November 2007 when the dongle was first being sold you would have probably entered into an eighteen month contract, which now would look expensive. Now with over 200,000 dongles sold a month, nearly double were they were in 2008, the volumes sold now means the market has become more competitive and in fact to competitive with operators really starting to wonder how they can retain their own customer base, let alone attract new customers. Mobile broadband operator 3 Mobile have recently released their £15 per month sim only broadband deal in an attempt to retain some of its customers. This new package is tailored to work on a rolling month contract allowing an element of freedom while offering competitive data allowances in a bid to secure some of its customers and be competitive enough to draw in a percentage of the ever growing market share. With around 2.5 million customers already using the dongle facility and this number expected to increase by around 15% for 2009 the market has developed as big business for the operators. With 3 Mobile currently occupying 40% of the mobile broadband market sector, approximately 1 million customers, it would appear that 3 Mobile`s marketing strategy and products are a hitting the UK`s needs, but is it enough? With monthly contracts starting to hit a ceiling in regards to unit numbers sold, it is maybe time the operators went the extra mile to differentiate themselves from their rivals. With the prepay market starting to replace the monthly tariff option operators investing in this product early on will be in a stronger position to retain customers and protect its margin. The other key factor in mobile broadband apart from the packages is the coverage, with many surveys pointing in the direction of customer loyalty being driven from value for money which incorporates coverage. Apart from these areas operators may seek to deliver added value services in an attempt to bring in extra revenue. The draw back with this solution is that customers may find their packages becoming to expensive and actually seek to switch to a cheaper provider. The other areas that have exceeded initial targets are the netbook deals. With netbook targeting 24 month terms it means operators can secure back end profit with the last six to nine months being when the operator can enjoy profit. This new product line is secure long term profit for the operators, but with their most profitable service being the 1GB to 3GB price plans and the netbook deals helping operators secure future profit I think they will be operators going back to the drawing board to help make the mobile broadband sector a profitable venture for everyone. 3 Mobile are the market leaders in the mobile broadband market.

More on 3 Mobile

Mobile Broadband Coverage

Saturday 11th July 2009 16:07

With mobile broadband being the latest phenomenon in the world of high speed internet connections, it is always good to know what your getting for your money and where it works, whether you live in the city or out in the great British countryside. But what does all this mean and how do I check to see if I get coverage? This question was posed to me when my dear old techno phoebe father asked me as his first line of defense with keeping up with the times. With this simple question put to me I set about trying to find the information and break the jargon into basic English for both my father and I.

Firstly I looked into broadband coverage as a whole. Most broadband providers will have a map of the UK showing coloured areas of where reception can be found. Of all the providers, I found the 3 mobile broadband currently has the most widely spread UK coverage. I found the 3 mobile broadband website to be particularly helpful with the Jargon busting. With HSDPA explained to me, basically the high speed dial up for the internet, it also provided me with quantifiable ways to work out how fast it is. With a 3 to 4 minute music track being downloaded in 30 seconds or less I was comfortable that the speed was adequate for what I needed.

Covering 90% of the UK with the nearest competitor covering 84% 3 mobile broadband delivers the most network coverage. With further investigation this coverage was 3.6mbps, which is the connection speed I worked out I needed. On top of this they have a roll out plan to increase the speed to 7.2mbps. Their statement is that 98% of the UK will be covered by early 2009 with the 3.6mbps and by 2011 at the 7.2mbps speed.

With this information on board it was a fairly safe assumption that 3 mobile broadband would be able to cater for my father`s rural location, and providing me with the added comfort blanket that when I am visiting at Christmas I can still keep in contact with the rest of the world and watch the program`s I want to watch on the I-Player rather than the usual Christmas films and soaps.

The World At Your Fingertips

Saturday 04th July 2009 12:07

In the fast paced world of today, nothing quite like the old saying knowledge is power best describes the reason we all hold our broadband connections dear to our hearts. But is it really the world at your fingertips?

What is arguably the best invention designed in my lifetime, the internet has become a necessity in the average UK home. Used for a variety of purposes, the internet is designed to provide people with a variety of needs and services, but as the dial up has evolved into broadband what is the World Wide Web actually being used for? Whether you`re studying hard for further education, using it to run your business, or you just want to pay your bills the internet really has become the creature comfort we have all become dependent on.

With such advances in the technology of this product, mobile broadband has evolved, meaning you never are too far away from updating your Facebook, booking tickets for a show or getting the weekly shop delivered to your door.

One of the largest services to evolve of the back of the internet is e-mail. In a recent poll, with 4000 individuals asked about the internet usage time, a staggering 90% of them use it for e-mail. Communications is an ever growing service we crave with the internet and software such as MSN, Facebook and Twitter help quench this thirst. Hours upon hours are dedicated to chat rooms, providing you with the pen pal you may never have had.

According to the poll emailing was shortly followed by shopping and paying bills. The luxury of paying your bills, buying your insurance, doing your food shop all from the comfort of your sofa always brings a smile to my face. The days of queuing in my lunchtime at the post office or bank are long gone.

The rest of the internet time according to the poll depends on the demographic using the internet, over 65`s usage in chat rooms dropped to less than 5%, with the main bulk of this demographics usage being spent on research and shopping. I can honestly say that the internet does actually have something for everyone and has taken this small rock we call earth into a new generation.

Gimmicks like Google Earth provide hours of entertainment and act as a great source of education, with satellite pictures of everywhere in the world, which I have used to both show off where I have been in the world and look at houses I am considering to buy. If you are one of the lucky people that have invested in mobile broadband I can imagine you have lost afternoons searching the internet and finding new and exciting things to do. No matter what your needs of the internet I don`t think there are many people that would challenge the statement that the internet really does fit the description of, the world at your finger tips.

Mobile Broadband Tube bound

Sunday 28th June 2009 12:06

With people spending more and more time surfing the net regardless of where they are, when are the government planning for it to be on the capitals underground?

With the Digital Britain report barely off the press, the much spoke about report has had some interesting suggestions put forward including one that addresses the capitals transport links. Lord Carter`s recommendation is to add the London underground to its list of places in which surfing the web will become a possibility and all by 2012.

The report, which was issued earlier this week, is aimed at bringing the UK to the cutting edge of the global digital economy, with one of its main recommendations being high speed broadband coverage being extended to the whole of the UK`s transport network, including the underground. It would mean to the thousands of commuters travelling daily on our underground systems that experiencing patching signal on both mobiles and broadband while you travel would be a thing of the past.

With these thoughts on board, being able to check e-mails, browse the internet and book entertainment online all while on your way to work would tie in very nicely for the government as it seeks to promote the Olympics as the most digital games in history.

Although historically this is not the first time the government have considered this objective, dropped it and looked at it again, there seems to have been a U-turn on the London Undergrounds previous stance on the economy being to unstable for this level of investment. Although I can sympathise with this view, being still in the credit crunch, with the Olympics acting as an extra incentive for the government to show the world Britain is still up there with the rest of the world, this time it may actually be different.

Digital Britain Is Finally Unveiled

Wednesday 24th June 2009 21:06

With Lord Carter looking at Britain and how it fairs with the rest of the world with our digital status, what are the new plans to take Britain into the digital world of today?

With the fast paced world of broadband and mobile broadband changing almost everyday Britain has commissioned Lord Carter to look at what Britain can do to bring us up to speed in the digital world and how we are going to achieve it. This much spoke about report has had people all over the country wondering what is going to be done and more importantly, with the credit crunch in full swing, how we are going to pay for it.

With the report now issued the much discussed topic from the report is not how this is going to benefit Britain as a whole, but how we are going to pay for it. The proposed £6 per year "broadband tax" which will be levied against every household with a landline should raise an estimated £200 million pound fund to help roll this new proposal of the next generation internet.

To soften the blow on what is potentially another tax for the public to pay, the government has pledged that every household will have 2 Mbps broadband by 2012, with this improving further by 2017.

Although this may sound very promising at first glance there are some potential fall outs from this bold suggestion pitched by the government. There is no assurances that this new £6 tax is not likely to increase as the program rolls out and with Ofcom`s study suggesting that the population that currently don`t have the internet not actually wanting it, there are fears people will just be paying tax for a service that is not essential to our survival. On top of this there is the selection of people that do subscribe to the internet but are suffering with little or no internet service due to their geographic location. With no clear timetabled deadlines other than the 2012 2Mbps broadband, Britain could be waiting a string of discussions and “trial and error” stages before they really start to see the benefit of this new proposal.

In an attempt to convince the public that the review has considered all angles, the half hearted attempt to clamp down on illegal downloads once again leans towards the idea that the government has good intentions with this roll out scheme but has not really thought everything through. With the governments current suggestion of limited bandwidth for the persistent offenders, without any suggestions of a permanent loss of connection or injunctions really needs looking at again.

There is some good news from this report however, with the mobile phone industry being told that the 3G network licenses were being extended for good. The benefit behind this is that now maybe the big five providers will invest in areas that are lacking 3G to bolster up sales, also making way for the population limited by their location to catch up with mobile broadband packages and with digital radio being our only source of radio from 2015 there is good headway to suggest Britain will be a digital country by then.

Overall this is good news for our fair land, and signs that our government is serious about widespread digital enfranchisement. There are a lot of positive suggestions being put forward, but on the other hand that is the problem with this report, it is just mainly suggestions.

My Mobile Broadband Data Allowance?

Monday 22nd June 2009 15:06

Have you ever wondered what monthly data allowance has to do with mobile broadband? Read this article in order to find out what you actually can do with the different allowances.

Do you make the most of the 21st century`s wonderful and mobile world? If the answer to that question is yes, you are likely to be the proud owner of a mobile broadband USB modem. If you haven`t switched to wireless 3G broadband yet, you seriously should consider it and make the most out of its endless possibilities.

Mobile broadband packages from all internet service providers come with a so called monthly data allowance. This data allowance usually is expressed in Gigabyte (GB) and describes the combined monthly up and download allowance. So far so good, but have you ever asked yourself the question what this actually means?

In order to explain to you how to make the most of your monthly allowance, I have included a list of what you can do with it:


1 GB Data Allowance

download 5 four minute videos

surf the web for 10 hours

download 32 four minute music tracks

send or receive 1000 Emails


3 GB Data Allowance

download 15 four minute videos

surf the web for 30 hours

download 96 four minute music tracks

send or receive 3000 Emails


5 GB Data Allowance

download 24 four minute videos

surf the web for 50 hours

download 160 four minute music tracks

send or receive 5000 Emails


7 GB Data Allowance

download 35 four minute videos

surf the web for 70 hours

download 224 four minute music tracks

send or receive 7000 Emails


15 GB Data Allowance

download 75 four minute videos

surf the web for 150 hours

download 480 four minute music tracks

send or receive 15000 Emails



The above figures are a very good guidance on what you will be able to do with your monthly download allowance. Needless to say that you can use your mobile broadband for any combination of the above or anything you want. Switching to mobile broadband means absolute freedom without wires or hassle.

Are you an addict?

Tuesday 16th June 2009 23:06

If we are really honest with ourselves, we all have to admit to at least one addiction. The good news is, the addiction I`m talking about doesn`t do you any harm at all. The opposite is the case! This habit of ours enhances our lives, our social and professional ones in particular. You might think: NO! I`m addicted to nothing! But I bet a month wages you are indeed! I`m talking about the internet and it`s spellbinding mix of information, entertainment and countless applications.
The internet has come a long way since it`s widespread use and commercialisation in the 1990`s. It has changed commerce and communication forever and therefore our culture as well. In the mid 90`s, online applications were either for commercial professional use or for fun and pleasure.
Nowadays, you cannot separate the two any longer. Companies like EBay, Google , Facebook,or Skype, have changed the ways we shop, communicate or search for information and are household names throughout the world. Undertaking the above mentioned tasks has never been easier, quicker and cheaper.
Today people can work from everywhere in the world thanks to business broadband or find any required piece of information at the touch of a few buttons.
Since the early 2000`s, the world wide web can be accessed with all sorts of handheld devices like phones or PDAs. Since the introduction of the so called 3G in early 2003, mobile internet is gaining market shares over conventional broadband at an ever increasing speed. Mobile broadband downloads are soon expected to reach around 7 Mbps and the necessary mobile phone network is covering nearly 100% of the British population.
Do you want to access the internet on the move at high speeds as well? Then 3 Mobile Broadband is the perfect choice for you.

4 things you need to know about Mobile Broadband

Tuesday 16th June 2009 08:06

Nowadays the internet has become mobile. Since the introduction of the 3rd generation of mobile technology you can check your Facebook or make free Skype calls from literarily anywhere at any time. This article points out the 4 most important things to look out for when you decide to get mobile broadband.

Network Coverage

Mobile broadband utilises Mobile Phone Networks, therefore you should check if the network of your choice covers the areas you are likely to use your mobile internet connection in. Generally this is a given in most urban areas, but sometimes can be a bit trickier in rural parts of the country.

The Modem

Most ISPs offer USB modems, they are similar to a normal USB memory stick in shape and size. Often USB modems are referred to as dongles. This can be misleading, because generally speaking a dongles is a mobile phone shaped device connected to a dongles via USB . It basically has the same functionality as an USB modem, but is substantially bigger and therefore not as mobile.

Download Speed

Most British mobile broadband providers offer download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. This is sufficient for most users, but if you are planning to use your mobile setup to download large chunks of data, such as music, photos or films, you might want to opt for a network that upgrades to 7.2 Mbps in the near future.

Data Allowance

This is a tricky one. Most broadband providers offer different packages of data allowances. This basically describes your combined monthly up and download allowance and usually is expressed in GB. Before you commit to a contract or decide for a PAYG offer, you have to decide how you intent to use your mobile broadband . A good provider should explain exactly, what you can do with the data allowance in question.