Another significant conclusion come to from the studies was that the 900MHz spectrum awaiting the digital switchover was ideally suited to the mobile broadband services. The research also added that subscriptions to mobile broadband service across the Europe had grown rapidly that it is expected to touch the 100 million mark by 2014, since the introduction of 3G across the continent.

Analyst at Pyramid Research, Andrei Tchadliev has suggested that prices were lowered and usage allowances were expanded in the relevant market owing to the prevalence of a healthy competition, although it has also pushed the network capacities to the maximum. He added that the refarming of the spectrum was one of the most critical regulatory revolutions to have affected the industry in the last twenty years.

Tchadliev also expressed his concern that those networks who currently possessed the 900MHz spectrum assets, saw refarming as a threat to their network quality as well as competitive advantage. The findings of the agency are all the more significant in the circumstances as the proposal for the next generation broadband services rollout was very much on the cards, which however largely depended on the co-operation from the existing spectrum-holders.

An independent survey that involved 1958 mobile broadband using respondents, conducted by YouGov has selected T-Mobile’s mobile broadband service the best. This survey was conducted in January 2009. Thirteen categories were set as parameters, of which T-Mobile topped in nine. The categories included vital assessment facets, such as network coverage, speed, connectivity, value for money and reliability.

The Dongle Tracker Report of YouGov found out that T-Mobile was the most consistent, performing remarkably well in all three of its quarterly series. In the nine customer satisfaction standards too, T-Mobile was reported to be the best. The nine measures included daytime reliability, value for money, download and upload speeds, installation and customer services, billing and getting connecting. Going into the finer details, T-Mobile Broadband Provider trailed at the second place for staying connected and quality.

The independent customer research of YouGov is neatly complimented by T-Mobile by regularly scrutinising its mobile broadband network through P3 Solutions’ quarterly tests. P3 Solutions is an independent test house concerned with mobile broadband. The results of P3 Solutions had showed that T-Mobile effectuated the fastest web-browsing experience than its nearest competitor by 35 percent extra speed. Its upload speeds were tremendous as well, as they were found 60 percent quicker than the nearest competitor.

T-Mobile’s superior mobile broadband show can be linked with its charting a programme of rapid technological innovation and network expansion. It has also taken a trailblazing approach towards its 3G network expansion by signing a network sharing contract with 3 Mobile Broadband, by which 3G services would be opened up to the whole UK population by 2010. Its nationwide rolling out of the faster HSPUA technology, as a vanguard, though remains the icing on the cake.

]]> http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/3g-mobile-broadband-service-three-cheers-to-t-mobile/feed/ 0 http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/3g-sharing-by-orange-and-vodafone/ http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/3g-sharing-by-orange-and-vodafone/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:06:30 +0000 admin http://www.broadbandsuppliers.co.uk/uk-isp/3g-sharing-by-orange-and-vodafone/  

It was not so long ago when Orange along with Vodafone had announced a plan on sharing their 3G networks. To be precise this happened in the year 2007, though nothing considerable happened since that regarding the essence of the announcement. Meanwhile, T-Mobile and 3 Broadband also promised to share their 3G networks at equal proportions to effectuate the largest as well as most comprehensive mobile broadband network in the world. A venture that would help both the ISPs to save an estimated GBP2 billion by the year 2017.

The plan put forth by Orange and Vodafone too had some exciting potentials as once the work was completed, above half the total UK population could have access to strong 3G reception. There was something for the environmentalists too as a reduction of around three thousand masts would had been effected once the partnership had commenced. Also, the merger should have saved great amounts that should have benefited the customers, instead.

However, even after the passing of more than an year’s time, yet to begin is the first stage of implementation and needless to say that an end date was not revealed. There was no shortage of slick words as well, as the then CEO of Orange Tom Alexander had stated that the two companies would work in tandem to offer better and faster mobile coverage in more places that too with lesser mast-sites across the Broadband UK.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Vodafone, Nick Read too saw that he never sounded less peachy as he stated that the announcement would strive to focus on a vital mat sharing programme that would not only benefit the customers, but also the environment, even while their business efficiencies also being boosted. Whatsoever, very much contrary to these exciting quotes, the reports coming out now are pointing to the jeopardy of the deal, and no one..not even Ofcom can practically fix this back again, once the undesirable happens. For, Ofcom definitely cannot fix, even if it can regulate.

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Mobile Broadband is defined as a type of wireless high speed internet access that is obtained by using a portable modem. For this purpose various types of network standards such as the 3G, GPRS, HSPA, etc are used. A team was originally formed that aimed at spreading this mobile broadband connection to meet the needs of residential and business people. This team was the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) Working Group. On 11^th December 2002, the IEEE Standards Board approved the establishment of this group.

Due to the dedicated effort taken by this team; now a greater section of UK relies on the Mobile Broadband services. Initially the mobile broadband services were targeted at laptop users due to the availability of a USB slot. One of the main challenges faced by the Mobile broadband providers was coverage. It is not always possible to obtain full network in some areas, thus the available speed would be much lower than the advertised one. The main devices that are used for providing mobile broadband services include a mobile data card, USB modem, USB sticks, phones with internal data modems, and laptops with built-in 3G mobile broadband.

This service is mainly useful for those people who cannot get normal telephone connection, as well as for people who need to move houses often, and people who do not like the numerous wires running across their houses. This is also useful for people who live far away from the telephone exchange and obtaining a business broadband ADSL connection is impossible. Such people need not have to compromise with a slow dial-up network but can enjoy broadband speeds owing to the mobile broadband service. For using this network you do not need a telephone line or a wi-fi network. Juts connect your laptop to a USB modem or a data-card that comes with a SIM card and access the internet at broadband speeds. Another method of accessing  broadband mobile service is by simply attaching the cell phone or PDA to the computer to access internet. The evolution of this technology was due to the high number of mobile subscriptions in and around Europe.

Five major operators who are providing this service to millions of people in and around the UK have formed the Mobile Broadband Group. They are O2, 3, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.  The main functions of this Mobile Broadband Group is to develop new policies for legislation and regulation purposes, create a code of practice and act as a point of contact for their stakeholders. With a group of operators governing the mobile broadband services with clearly set out rules and regulations, there is only a rare chance of any kind of service misuse. In case you are wanting to take up the Mobile Broadband service, you can check out the various available plans and choose the one that suits your needs and budget best.

It should be noted that Point topic, the broadband research has also reported the growing popularity of broadband bundles which are becoming cheaper option for the broadband customers when compared with stand-alone broadband deals. Confirming this fact, Ofcom’s latest report shows that the subscriptions to broadband bundles have grown up to 32% by March 2008 as against 18% in 2006.

Among the broadband types, fixed line broadband connections make up more than half of the total broadband connections (54%). ADSL broadband connections that are accessed via landlines have grown by 6 percent during the last one year.

Switching broadband providers has been on rise during the last twelve months. Around one-third (27%) of the broadband customers in the UK have switched their ISP at least once during the quarter ended in March, 2008.

As for the broadband speeds, the maximum speeds that the broadband providers advertised for their products were around 5.9Mbps on average in the last quarter, which was significantly higher than the advertised (3.6Mbps) speeds a couple of years ago. Although there was discontent with the speeds attainable by the broadband customers, the over-all customer satisfaction did not decline much thanks to the improved services offered by the ISPs in recent times.

While high speed broadband products are gaining more popularity in recent times, the mobile broadband is another product that has become huge success as it offers convenience to the customers to access the internet on the move. Many mobile broadband providers now offer free dongle with their packages while some mobile broadband packages come with free laptop offer such as the mobile broadband packages offered by T-mobile and 3 mobile broadband provider.

By the end of June, 2008, the monthly sales figure of USB modems (dongles) has exceeded 133,000 as against 69,000 dongles a month in February, 2008. Currently, there are more than 2 million mobile broadband connections in the UK out of which one-fourths of the customers (511,000) were added during the last five months.

Similarly, the 3G mobile phone users who use their handsets to access the internet have also increased significantly during the last twelve months. Currently, there are over 12.5 million 3G mobile broadband users thanks to the net addition of 4.7 million connections made during the last year.

IPTV services have also shown great growth as 17 percent of the broadband users are now watching on-demand videos and TV programmes on the internet. This means the IPTV services like BT Vision and BBC iPlayer have doubled the viewer-ship during the last year. Now, the major IPTV broadcaster, BBC iPlayer offers over 700,000 videos/day online to its subscribers. Online videos have also become hugely popular as the leading online video player, Youtube is now being watched by more than 9 million customers.