Mobile broadband internet is becoming hotter nowadays as many UK mobile broadband providers are shifting their focus on upgrading their mobile networks to provide better speeds to their customers. For instance, Orange has already announced its plans to launch 14.4Mbps mobile broadband service by the end of next year while Vodafone, the major mobile broadband provider currently offers 7.2Mbps products to its customers.

On seeing the potential demand for high speed mobile broadband services, 3 Mobile ISP has also unveiled its plans to launch super-fast mobile broadband that can deliver up to 14.4Mbps speeds to its customers in near future. It should be noted that 3 mobile broadband products offer up to 2.8Mbps speeds while the ISP has been upgrading its networks to offer 7.2Mbps speeds on a gradual phase. Since, mobile broadband speeds vary due to many factors, most customers get speeds around 1 Mbps on average. The upgrade is likely to increase the average speeds to 2Mbps which, the ISP thinks, can cater the needs of majority of its customers.

"This means we might get 2Mb when we upgrade. The appetite for data is huge, so we have to have a sufficiently deep network, with the right amount of density and backhaul, to cater for all customers." 3 mobile broadband says.

However, the signal strength is a crucial factor for getting maximum speeds that largely depends upon geographical location of the customers.

"For instance, with 7.2Mb you have to be within around 200m of a mobile mast to really get the top speeds,"

The upgrading of Three’s HSPA mobile broadband network is expected to be completed in a couple of months. While 3 mobile broadband customers can access 7.2Mbps downstream speeds, the ISP is hopeful to increase it to 14.4Mbps in near future as the greater capacity of its networks will be used to achieve this.