Mobile broadband to play a 'big part' in the future of internet in the UK

Mobile
broadband is without doubt going to play an important role in the future of internet usage in the UK, a leading expert has claimed.

Communications minister Lord Carter's interim Digital Britain report recently laid out a pledge to provide download speeds of a minimum of 2Mbps to every household by 2012.

Tom Newton, from Broadband-Finder.co.uk, said there's "no doubt" that mobile internet connections will play a "big part in the future of broadband development in this country".

He explained that mobilebroadband offers advantages over traditional services, primarily in terms of access for remote areas a long distance from an ADSL exchange.

"Mobilebroadband connections circumvent this problem by not requiring a physical connection to the premises to deliver broadband services," he added.

Mr Newton also explained that Lord Carter recently met with the UK's five largest mobile operators regarding Vodafone and O2's slice of the 900 megahertz spectrum.

He said that the minister hopes to broker a wholesale deal similar to the BT Openreach agreement, which could lead to "faster speeds and better services overall".

According to Analysys Masons, the level of uptake for mobilebroadband worldwide has the potential to reach 148 million connections in the next five years.