Mobile Broadband : Could it make cabled broadband redundant ?

If you use a laptop, you may already have experienced mobile broadband. This uses a USB dongle to connect to the internet over the 3G network using a system known as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). This system has a theoretical connection speed of 7.2Mb, but unless you are extremely close to a mobile phone mast, you are more likely to see 1.5-2Mb. Mobile phone company 3 has been quietly upgrading its network to the super-charged HSPA+ system, increasing the top speed to 21 Mb, and this should be complete across the country by the end of 2011. 02 is following suit. They will offer speeds better than most existing broadband connections, without the need for a landline, or a separate router.

Orange, Docomo, 02, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and 3 all have contract and pay-as-you go plans with USB dongles. Because the connection is tied to the dongle, it's harder to share between several computers but there's nothing to stop you unplugging the dongle from your desktop computer and taking it with you to use on your laptop when you leave the house. Mobile broadband monthly plans start at around 10$ but with that, the download limit is typically quite low. Most include just 3 gigabytes per month and costs rise steeply once you exceed this limit. If you opt for a pay-as-you-go plan, you can't exceed your budget and your connection will simply stop when your credit runs out.

A physical fiber-optic network will always offer higher theoretical speeds but it is much more expensive to roll out to remote locations. A combination of mobile broadband in rural areas and public Wi-Fi in towns could break our reliance on wired connections altogether, in the same way that the mobile phone is increasingly replacing the fixed landline. 

4G : The next step for mobile communications

As fast as HSPA+ is, it's simply a stop-gap technology until the next generation of ultra-fast mobile networks, known as 4G, is implemented. These will offer speeds of up to 10OMb on a laptop dongle. That's amazing, but the 4G standard also specifies an even faster mode that will give ten times that speed to computers that don't need to be mobile. In a few years, your desktop PC could be using a mobile broadband connection at speeds of 1000Mb. 4G communications could also replace existing Wi-Fi networks by turning each house into its own private mobile phone base station.

South Newquay in Cornwall is piloting a 4G network from September to December this year and the mobile phone companies will bid for rights to the radio spectrum early next year. 4G should roll out across the whole country during 2014.