Mobile broadband that works

Before long, the download speeds attainable over mobile broadband devices could increase massively. The mobile operator Vodafone, in conjunction with another communications company, is hoping to develop a new technology that will “bundle” broadband channels to give faster speeds.

At present, a mobile broadband connection is limited to a single 2GB channel. The new technology, however, shares information across multiple channels, meaning that speeds of 4GB, 6GB, 8GB or more will be possible. Mobile broadband tends to work reasonably well in urban areas, but slow speeds have been reported in rural areas where mobile broadband has not been ‘backhauled' to mobile masts.

Were widespread broadband of the 6GB to 10GB range widely available, and were contention rates over such shared channels kept low, mobile broadband could become viable as an alternative to fixed line broadband. It would also be possible to use a 3G mobile phone as a reliable modem. This is already technically possible, but the massive fees charged by mobile operators for the volumes of data that would typically be sent over broadband make the service unviable at present.