Well not so says Top 10 Broadband who claims to be the
After what It calls extensive research, Top 10 Broadband says that it has nailed what it believes are the most popular misconceptions about mobile broadband.
]]> Commented Jessica McArdle, marketing manager of Top 10 Broadband, "With this guide we wanted to put myths surrounding excessive costs and slow speeds to bed. Mobile broadband download costs are down to an all-time low of £1 per Gb and download speeds are coming in at an average of 2.62 Mb - we think it's time to set the record straight on mobile broadband."The full guide can be found at http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/guides/mobile_broadband_myths/ but the top 10 mobile broadband myths in the guide are
Now these are all key issues and it's surprising to think that there would be confusion regarding a few of the categories but in general Top 10 Broadband seems to have done its job. Now go buy one if you haven't.
And it may well be the case that the company slightly regrets using a name that many will dismiss as a clever pun when what the product is and what it does could be very popular within the mobile business community.
Essentially the product is designed to solve this perennial problem for mobile business users: easily finding a reliable and fast wireless broadband network wherever you are and whenever you want it.
]]>Set for launch on 17 May over the Verizon Wireless 3G Mobile Broadband network-using a number of tariffs beginning at $39.99 for monthly access with a 250 Mbyte monthly allowance and 10 cents per megabyte overage-, the $99.99 MiFi 2200 is designed to let users customers create a personal Wi-Fi cloud capable of supporting up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as notebooks, netbooks, cameras, gaming devices or portable media/MP3 players.
And the device's form factor is truly notable, measuring only 3.5" x 2.3" x 0.4" and weighing only 2.05 ounces. It combines a variety of features into its streamlined form factor, including integrated internal CDMA and Wi-Fi antennas, security and authentication technologies. When one device is connected through Wi-Fi, the MiFi 2200's rechargeable battery provides up to four hours of active use and 40 hours of standby time on a single charge.
But essentially what you have is a Wi-Fi hub that works ion a 3G network. This will work wonderfully in cities and towns where there is reliable and consistent coverage but, in the UK at least , will mean that up to five Wi-Fi devices would go blank in terms of Internet connectivity once your train heaves on to Euston (even though it would work well going west).
Ultimately this device will have a lot of uses whilst you had connectivity. Can't help but feel though that a WiMAX enabled laptop would probably give you more or less the same. Now THAT would be interesting...
Latest evidence of this, and in what will surely be a fillip for the mobile business market in general, will be the news that
Basically until 31 July 2009, existing SME voice customers who take on a new Business Everywhere plan will receive a discount of up to 50%. This says
After 31 July 2009, business customers will be offered Business Everywhere Unlimited packages for £15 a month on a 24 month contract or Business Everywhere Traveller, which includes a 25 Mbyte roaming allowance for £35. The offer also includes HSUPA mobile broadband devices for business.
These are interesting offer s and goes to show that, the need for operators to perform a land grab of market share continues unabated. The specific nature of the packages also indicates the fact that mobile broadband has penetrated companies of all sizes. There used to be a perception that mobility worked only for large enterprises: this news is another nail in the coffin of that myth.
Well when on a train for example. Showing sure sign of age and remembering the sagacious advice of showbiz legend Jimmy Saville as to this being the age of the train, one of Jim's pronouncements was that on the train mobile workers could actually enact mobile working.
Now as these days work is a function and not a place, the train is somewhere where you'd expect mobile broadband to be readily available and it's been our sad duty to report that on one of the country's main train lines, the
Now being the fair minded people that we are it is now our pleasant duty to report that this is not a universal criticism to be levelled at all on-train reception.
]]> Indeed what a pleasant surprise it was to find almost near HSDPA, and at the very worst 3G, reception betweenBut is this the point? Just because there are a veritable cornucopia of IT firms dotted around Berks and Oxon doesn't mean that the demand for mobile broadband services is less for those living between
Furthermore isn't it a huge competitive advantage for the train companies to offer secure mobile broadband and guarantee the office on the road between Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, or Glasgow and London, something the airlines can't do, just yet anyway, for journeys to the latter two places?
Soon to come for sure. You'd hope. It can be done.
Only last year, the overpriced posh coffee behemoth/indispensable dispenser of proudly brewed diverse coffee and other beverages regarded the
Now in terms of recent Anglo American insults this was not quite on the scale of Obama's gifts of DVDs for the PM or a 'personalized' (sic, or would that be zic in the land of the free?) iPod for HMQ as clear revenge for us sending them the Beckhams. Or maybe Elizabeth Hurley. But the hot water that Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz found himself in with his frothy comments in clearly scalded.
But in yet another example of the magic that Obama government is spreading across, Starbucks has clearly changed tack with the unveiling of a relationship with BT to provide Wi-Fi across its more than 650 coffeehouses in the
It's all about wanting to 'amplify stores as must-go location' (sic, you betcha), explained clearly venti expressod Robert Teagle, EMEA IT director Starbucks. "At Starbucks, we are continually looking for new ways to develop our in-store offerings for our customers, and this new relationship with BT, provides an enhanced customer experience."
In what probably wasn't intended as an ominous indication of BT's real estate strategy Chris Bruce, CEO, BT Openzone added, "Starbucks is the perfect place to work or catch up over email. Use of our Wi-Fi doubled last year and coffee shops are increasingly popular as a third place to work or log on to the internet. We're constantly looking to boost the choice of places to connect - where people want it."
I say this as your author sits in the Library room at the
I'm here to listen to O2 explains its transition from mobile operator to 'communications integrator of choice' and have explained to me that the move was in part due to a constant need to keep a step ahead of rivals who O2 claims often follow in its footsteps. How accurate that statement could be is a matter of debate but even if so perhaps O2 should take inspiration from one of the great man's most famous aphorisms, namely that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
]]>Yet at the heart of the launch is a very interesting trend: supporting those customers who have had to downsize. That is to say, not pulling the plug on those companies who have had to cut jobs during the recession. And most importantly the individuals concerned themselves who'll be allowed to keep their numbers even if they move tariffs.
For example O2 has converted 60% of former Woolworth's employees form business to cheaper domestic tariffs. O2 will also have a 'realistic' conversation with firms who simply don't have the workforce to match the devices that they'd signed up to support over fixed year contracts.
And that I guess is the essence of what a comms contact should be offering these days. The flexibility to scale down in response to bad times as well as upwards when things pick up.
People are talking about green shoots but hey it's only just spring. And for some this may be a dangerous idea. But as the great man himself said an idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.
Those of us who have regularly attended Mobile World Congress over the years are accustomed to Madame Reding outraging telcos from the
For those mobile computing users still wit a travel budget, many a user has blanched at receiving the monthly bill for mobile broadband usage whilst outside the
The Parliament's lead Committee on the new roaming legislation also endorsed measures to enhance the transparency of roaming charges to eliminate the risk of bill shocks for data roaming.
"Yesterday's vote in the European Parliament is very good news for consumers all over
And hardly any sooner had the champagne stopped flowing at driving through the regulation, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), certainly historically no grand ami de Bruxelles welcomed the decision by the European Parliament to accept the amendment of the GSM Directive to allow UMTS (WCDMA-HSPA) technology to be deployed in the 900 MHz band.
This means more HSPA mobile broadband services should be able to be rolled out across
The move was no less than 'groundbreaking' said GSA President Alan Hadden. "This groundbreaking spectrum agreement in
So next time you think that the EU exists only for inveterate lunching by failed national politicians, you can email your complaints from anywhere in
And it's the job of technology firms to give us the golden vistas of bright futures based on technologies offering hitherto only-dreamed of performance.
Yet whilst looking specifically at the latest reports on the future of mobile broadband technologies, perhaps, as far as the IT/telecoms managers involved in making purchasing decisions should be concerned, there has been a tendency to get ahead of our - that's us as well - selves.
]]> The thought struck whilst in conversation with CEO of technology company Precise. Whilst talking about his company's latest transactional performance management system, CEO Mark Kremer emphasised the importance of realising day-to-day issues, doubting whether any point in looking long term if you have not secured your short-term future. A lot of businesses would testify to that these days.And this brings us to mobile broadband and specifically the rollout of the very high sped bandwidth on technologies such as LTE and WiMAX.
Now this is not to say that there is no place for thinking about the transition from your current mobile broadband technology to any of the so-called 4G ones; what we're saying is that right now there are probably more pressing issues to sort out such as your mobility strategy in general and ensuring how mobile broadband technology can make a positive contribution to business.
According to a recent report from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GMSA) , 26 vendors have confirmed that they will rollout out LTE based services from 2010 to 2012. Tellingly, no current domestic mobile broadband operator has announced that they will roll out LTE services in the
Precise's Kremer said that the IT industry had to measure the cadence of users' businesses. Pperhaps IT and telecoms buyers focus should be on figuring out how mobile workers could use for the business right now all of that extra bandwidth rather than dream of what might be in two years.
]]>Bit of the same when it comes to mention one's own home town in any derogatory way even if, as should be apparent to anyone bar search engines and the totally one-eyed (that's
Being the type that buys into the Office anywhere concept or work is a function not a place, I've always looked at the two and a bit hours of Virgin Trains journey that Liverpool to London represents as an opportunity to practice what we've been preaching about mobile broadband, mobile computing and well mobile anything.
]]>Not wanting to rain on the mobile broadband parade of our Toby Tyke too much but some years back T-Mobile had launched, and some say perfected, the concept on train Wi-Fi on the Brighton to London line (note priority) giving south costal mobile workers the chance to do something really important in the hour --and rather picturesque Sussex and Surrey countryside and Gatwick airport--between stable 3G zones.
And sadly its the same on the Liverpool, and by extension Manchester, as the train heaves on, in it's famous son's words, to Euston and even the rather good HSDPA service that 3 provides via its similarly rather good mobile dongle vanishes as the banks of the Mersey give way to Runcorn only to appear again 20ish frustrating minutes later around Crewe and then around Stafford, Rugby and all points south of Watford.
To paraphrase Portia from the Merchant of Venice, as at our headline, I'm not realistically expecting mobile broadband to droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath--especially given for me that would be somewhere in the less populated bits of Herts, Bucks, Northants, Staffs and Cheshire--but ensuring a business class mobile broadband service between the country's major cities doesn't seem that much to ask in the year of our Lord 2009. Such a thing would blesseth him that gives and him that takes: and make operators take not a pound of flesh but pounds of money from those who'd be very willing to pay for it.
Smart, necessary (and somewhat bit late) move on their behalf in these credit-crunched days, saving the companies tons of cash.
But what is this going to mean for the user? Will the companies' networks be more than a sum on their parts? And especially from the context of mobile business in general and mobile broadband in particular?
The theory is that by reducing network costs, both companies will have more cash to be able to enhance quality of service levels within the network footprint to improve customers' mobile experience as well as support the delivery of services such as mobile broadband to a greater number of customers across a wider coverage area.
But is this possible within the service level agreements (SLA)s of current mobile broadband plans?
For example, the division of Vodafone which manages the communications needs of multinational companies worldwide has launched a standard global Service Level Agreement (SLA) to guarantee performance levels .
The deal enables customers to be able to customise a standard free of charge offering for an additional cost to meet specific needs such enhanced service levels for key executives, business critical functions or mobile workers.
This all seems very sensible and indicative of Vodafone recognising the increasing importance of a mobilised workforce. "Our customers have told us that there is a need for consistent global service levels in the delivery of devices, performance reporting and incident handling," commented Walter Kok, Vodafone Global Enterprise's Director of Customer Service Operations.
Yet with a combined network, how possible is it to offer a continuous
O2 has long recognised that the service element of its mobile contracts is a key differentiator. In March 2009, O2 won a welter of awards for its mobile broadband offerings including best service. Without comparing and contrasting directly the relative strengths and weaknesses of each firm's networks, will a combined network remove (or conversely enhance actually) the differentiator?
You know what you get because you're paying, well, so much per Gigabyte per month and yet after the first month you get a rather unpleasant surprise. Namely, a bill. A rather expensive bill at that. How come? You more than likely exceeded download limits that you weren't aware of.
]]>A recent advisory from broadband comparison site Broadband Expert is warning mobile broadband users that they could face huge bills if they exceed their download limits.
It warns that if you exceed your monthly download limit by just 1 Gbyte you could receive a bill for over £200 with some providers.
Broadband Expert quantifies such an amount of data as the equivalent to downloading an episode of Top Gear and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from BBC iPlayer. (Well that's me in the clear then....)
But the serious point in that exceeding download limits can be a very expensive business.
Broadband Expert says that O2 and 3 charge the most for exceeding download limits at 19.6p and 10p per Mb respectively. Vodafone charges £15 per Gbyte (equivalent of 1.46p per Mb),
Yet Rob Webber, Broadband Expert's Commercial Director, believes its work should not really be seen as a condemnation of sharp practice by 80% of the leading operators. He goes as far as to say that O2 and 3 offer 'excellent value for the light or occasional mobile broadband user' but adds that their policies are 'excessively expensive' for those who may unwittingly go over the limit.
Webber feels that providers should make the information relating to these additional charges more accessible. He says, "whilst many deals may appear to be very closely matched it is important to take excess charges into account, as there can be huge differences between one provider and another...information on run on rates is not always easy to find and not obviously visible on most advertising"
In fairness to the operators, most of them do provide free software with their mobile broadband services to keep track of usage. O2, for example, says Webber, does very clearly communicate these rates on its website even if levies the most expensive charges for exceeding download limits.
But these things are going to happen before users really get used to what is really a new phenomenon. Until then we're going to get stories of people receiving huge bills for going over limits that they didn't think were there or for roaming charges whilst abroad as one Vodafone customer found to his horror.
As ever, always read the small print
There's a lot more to mobile broadband though and a couple of recent surveys really put paid to these are the be all and end all.
For example, in a survey of
A YouGov survey of 1,958 mobile computing users carried out in January 2009 ranked T-Mobile ranked first in nine of 13 categories that including reliability, network coverage, connectivity and value for money instead of just base cost and speed.
And between these all these criteria the two awards are some great benchmarks to ask those who's take your money. Mobile broadband is en vogue right now but don't forget you're usually making a two year commitment and what you buy just has to be good for your business
Okay, maybe not quite that hard.
But not important it would seem WiMAX and LTE camps who, ignoring the small thing that is the current recession and the not-so-universal coverage of the existing and rather cheaper to roll out wireless broadband services available, have spent the last few post-Mobile World Congress weeks slugging it out like Ali and Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle or Nokia and Qualcomm in the courts last year (before the sprit of Barca made them kiss and make up).
]]> Analysts are also weighing in with ABI Research concluding that any reader who believed all the recent headlines--that is most of that generated from MWC--would 'feel confident that the WiMAX market is being crushed by LTE'. 'But that's not quite the whole story,' ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis added before grabbing an early lead in the prize for most 'creative' use of statistics 2009 by predicting that the WiMAX Subscriber Revenue Will Grow by 4,500+% in 2009. Yes, 4.5 thousand percent.Solaris's deft use of the calculator was though quickly rumbled by an-eagle eyed journalist in the land of diplomatic-incident-inducing-Obama-gifts, but actually only needing to use one of the eyes, the other apparently more focused on cheese, crackers and jugglers (them again...).
The following clarification was extracted from the spinning numbers man. "It's huge growth from a number that's small to a number that's still relatively small compared to the 2G and 3G market. It has to start somewhere, and after delays and going through teething pains, the market is becoming more and more real, even while much of the press out there tends to focus on the negative aspects," he confessed.
But he does have a point in terms of the tone of the press. Mea culpa and one can only offer this posting as an act of contrition.