Mobile broadband is a topic that’s always sure to create a lively debate. To some it’s a fantastic way of having the internet at your fingertips wherever you are. To others it’s a frustrating experience, marred with blackspots and slow speeds. To me, the issue is more about expectation.
Figures from YouGov suggest that there are 1 million mobile broadband users in the UK. Meanwhile, our own research shows that 16% of our customers would be “likely” or “very likely” to take up mobile broadband as an optional or complementary service. There’s every sign that mobile broadband will continue to grow – no doubt influenced by the popularity of netbooks, and competitive offers in the market.
If you read blogs and forums and talk to mobile broadband users, you’ll hear mixed reports on mobile broadband service, with some frustrated comments about poor coverage and slow speeds. The thing to remember is that mobile broadband is not designed to work as fixed broadband replacement: download bandwidth and allowance is limited, while in-door coverage can affect the experience. Also it is relatively expensive, isn’t ideal for gaming or streaming music and video, and is constrained for one user at a time. Mobile Broadband was clearly not designed to work in a home environment.
That all said, when using your laptop remotely, it’s a great complementary service and much more user-friendly than wi-fi hot spots. It is ideal for checking emails and social networking sites when on a train or out and about.
At TalkTalk we’ve decided, for the time being, to concentrate on providing the best quality and value that we possibly can for home-based phone and broadband. We are carefully considering mobile broadband for the future. However, before we decide to offer a mobile broadband dongle to our customers we have to ensure that the price is right and that there is a joined up and simple experience between home and on the move.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Mark (ISPreview)
Anonymous