Hot-Spot or Mobile Broadband

Vodafone have announced the results of, what is claimed to be, the biggest trial into Mobile Broadband speeds in the UK.  They state that the survey proves that:

“…nationally Vodafone is the fastest, most reliable mobile broadband network in all aspects of file download, web page loading and on both datacard modems and handsets.

An independent company carried out 28,000 tests over 10 weeks across the UK and in different types of locations.

Sounds great, but I would love to see the numbers to see how far ahead they were of their compeition, what speeds were achieved and how they fared region by region.  The use of ‘nationally’ suggests that they may not be the leaders in every region…hmm.

Watch out for further developments in the Mobile Broadband speed wars in the near future.

The rapid growth of mobile broadband has got the mobile operators pretty excited. They see an opportunity to infiltrate the huge home broadband market. The early pace was set by the opportunity to connect your laptop to the internet whilst on the move, but I hear mutterings of grander ambitions from some mobile operators.

In order for mobile broadband to truly replace your home connection a few things will need to change. One biggie is that mobile broadband propositions are currently based around a single usb modem. Many, if not most, households that use an internet connection have more than one PC, laptop, Mac, Nintendo Wii or Xbox that require an internet connection. A single USB modem will not enable this. Buying two or three modems means signing up to a couple of contracts, making it a very expensive proposition, removing the only real benefit of going through the hassle.

However this week I found out that it’s possible to get hold of a wi-fi router that uses 3G instead of a normal fixed line (BT or cable) phone line. This would enable more then one person to share a mobile broadband connection. I think Vodafone have offered this as a business proposition for a year or two, allowing temporary offices, such as building site offices, to have some kind of connectivity where a normal phone line may not be available.

So, does this open the floodgates to mobile operators taking on the likes of Tiscali and BT in the home? Not yet. From my experiences, and from feedback I’ve heard elsewhere (including from the store staff of at least one mobile operator) mobile broadband coverage inside a building is still pretty poor. I hear rumours of high return rates as people realise they can’t connect in their home study/bedroom/basement flat etc.

Average download speeds will remain much slower than home broadband for the next couple of years and coverage will remain patchy at best. The download caps and speeds won’t be good enough for applications such as iPlayer or downloading vast amounts of music. And once you stick a 3G SIM into a wi-fi router you lose the great mobility benefit - you can’t pop the SIM out whilst heading away for a weekend and leave the household without internet!

For now 3G based mobile broadband is a great additional service that let’s you connect your laptop whilst out and about. It may be suitable if you don’t need to share your home broadband connection with other people or gadgets, but home broadband still delivers a faster, more reliable internet connection.

Do you agree? Feel free to comment on this article.

Vodafone are going to extend what they call their ‘mobile broadband network’ to 3 million more people. What this really means is that by autumn 2008 they are upgrading the download speeds you will be able to receive in 6 of the larger cities in the UK, to match the speeds Londoners and major airport visitors (theoretically) have received since 2007.

The winners of the Vodafone speed lottery are… (Drum roll please)

• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Glasgow
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Reading

Bad luck Northern Ireland, Wales, Leeds, Newcastle, and everyone else - you are not invited to the mobile broadband party!

Three things really annoy me about this press release and strategy:

What speeds will they actually offer? - The press release makes no attempt to commit to a download speed to which the six cities will be upgraded. I assume that it’s probably 7.2Mbps, but the omission of an explicit number makes me think that speeds will vary between 1.8 Mbps and 7.2 Mbps. About as committal as a Tory policy announcement!

Why so urban focused? - There is much talk of internet access whilst on the move, as if it’s something that hasn’t reached the shires yet. In fact most major towns and cities are fairly well served by wi-fi already. If there’s a Starbucks, there’s a way.

3G penetration into buildings can be pretty poor too. I have real issues connecting to mobile broadband once I’m more than 3 steps away from a window. I’d like to see 3G initially filling the gaps in wi-fi coverage something that should play to 3G’s inherent strengths. e.g. bigger range of coverage - ideal for the outdoors such as in parks or whilst on train journeys.

Are Vodafone saying that 1.8Mbps isn’t good enough? - Hard to tell from their woolly copy, but the tone of the release could lead one to assume that Vodafone is telling us there’s no point getting their mobile broadband service unless you currently live in London (or an airport). You could perhaps join their club in the six new cities once roll-out completes over the next few months. The reality is that they’ll be selling mobile broadband in their stores from John O’Groats to Lands End. I smell hypocrisy.

Of course, Vodafone realise you don’t need 7.2Mbps to enjoy a good mobile broadband experience. They’re just positioning themselves against the likes of 3 and T-Mobile, to control the battle of who has the fastest network. It smacks a little of corporate todger waving and is confusing for the general public.

Come on Vodafone, credit us all with some intelligence and remember to ‘respect thy customer’.