Mobile Phone Deals, Latest Mobile Phone News and Reviews

BT has announced two new mobile broadband tariffs designed especially for small businesses. The two new tariffs come under BT’s Business Broadband option 2 and 3. BT Business Broadband also offers free connection with the two tariffs, via a USB stick which uses Vodafone’s 3G network.

Both broadband options are based on a 24 month contract, with option 2 costing £29.99 a month and option 3 a bit more at £40.50 a month.

Option 2 is limited to 1GB of data usage a month, with 2000 minutes of BT Openzone access. Option 3 has a 3GB data limit and 4000 minutes of BT Openzone minutes. If the data usage for the month is reached, BT will charge an additional 10p per megabyte, but stated that customers will be notified if they are near their limit.

BT has defended their low data usage limits by saying that mobile broadband use should not be as heavy as standard connection usage.

For the technologically savvy, the introduction of mobile broadband is set to be music to their ears.  This is because this new cutting edge technology - mobile broadband - will make it possible to access the worldwide web and browse the internet from any location using via a number of handheld devices. These handheld devices include PDA, laptops computers and with 3G mobile technology gaining prominence, the mobile phone will also be able to access mobile broadband.

The term mobile broadband or mobile Internet is used to refer to the wireless Internet connectivity which is accessible from anywhere via a number of handheld devices ranging from mobile phones, mobile dongles and data cards. ‘Mobile dongles’ is a more general term referring to such devices as mobile USB stick and USB modems. These devices are usually plug and play with a simple download and set up menu, which offer broadband speed internet access at the click of an icon wherever there are mobile phone base stations or coverage. Because of this fact, the Internet connectivity speeds are subject to a number of factors including mobile users’ density and strength of the signal.

Mobile broadband is synonymous with 3G mobile technology. This means that every mobile broadband device, whether a USB stick or USB modem, must be 3G technologies compatible in order for it to function. 3G is a combination of 2 complimentary technologies namely HSDPA – High Speed Download Packet Access and HSUPA – High Speed Upload Packet Access. Theoretically these technological combinations can offer mobile broadband speeds of up to 7Mbps download and speeds in excess of 1.8Mbps upload.

A new survey has shown that mobile phones have overtaken Wi-Fi as the most popular way of using mobile broadband when on the move. The number of users using mobile phones has jumped to 47% from around 30% last year, compared with Wi-Fi which has 42% up from 40% for the previous year.

The results also show that O2 has the biggest markets share with 26%, both Vodafone and Orange have around 20% of the markets each, with 3 and T-Mobile having just 12% and 14%.

Although it is cheaper to send and receive data over Wi-Fi, it is thought that the new results are due to the fact that Wi-Fi hotspots are relatively small, and do not cover vast amounts of space or locations like the mobile phone networks can.

With many new mobile phones now offering integrated Wi-Fi access there is a growing trend to use both systems, with the user mainly using the phones mobile broadband to gain internet access, but switching to Wi-Fi where it is available.

Although mobile phone technology now allows you to send emails and browse the internet, sending long emails or browsing the internet for long periods of time on the move is still best on a laptop.

With many of the mobile network operators now offering USB modems that use the 3G phone network; it has never been easier to stay in touch when you’re on the move.

Vodafone has added to their range of USB modems by releasing the Stick Pro. Being the first company to offer their modems with Mac compatibility, the new Stick Pro modem installs the drivers straight from the device meaning you can plug it in to any laptop without the need of an installation disc.

The new modem is small and sleek and easily fits into a pocket or laptop bag and offers one of the fastest speeds of a mobile broadband modem.  Download speeds are up to an impressive 7.2Mbps with up to 2Mbps upload speed.

There is also a usage meter that tells you how much data you have used; useful when you have a limited tariff. The Vodafone USB modem stick pro is free when you sign up for a 18 month contract and there are two different tariffs to choose from. The 5GB mobile plan is £25 per month, while the 3GB plan is £15 per month.

The Vodafone mobile broadband packages may not take over your home broadband packages just yet, but are very handy if you do a lot of travelling and have to use the internet at the same time.