3 cuts price of mobile broadband hardware

Mobile broadband provider 3 has further reduced the price of its Pay As You Go USB modem today (May 1st) as it strives to maintain market share in an increasingly competitive sector.

The firm has cut cost of a 'dongle' to £49.99, a significant saving on the former price of £69.99. The move comes after 3 had previously reduced prices for the ZTE Dongle and the Huawei E220 Dongles from £100 just over a month ago.

Rival provider Vodafone announced cheaper mobile broadband packages last month, which include a 3GB service to consumers signing up for contracts longer than 12 months.

O2 became the last major network to enter the market last year by offering consumers speeds of up to 1.8Mbps and has a 3GB data cap.

Recent research from Broadband Expert found that Vodafone produced the top industry speed of 2.3Mbps. T-Mobile achieved a maximum connection speed of 1.1Mbps, while 3 came in last with 1Mbps.