Mobile broadband users urged to be wary of extra download charges

Mobile
broadband users who are not wary of their download limits could be leaving themselves open to a hefty bill, a leading organisation claims.

According to research by Broadband Expert, users who exceed their download limit by around 1GB could face an additional bill of up to £200.

The broadband comparison site has claimed that O2 and 3 impose the biggest charges for those exceeding the limits, with the former levying a fee of 19.6p per extra megabyte, while the latter charges 10p.

Vodafone charges consumers just 1.46p per extra megabyte, which still adds up to £15 per GB, while T-Mobile does not levy a charge at all for those exceeding their download limit.

Rob Webber, Broadband Expert's commercial director, said: "Information on run-on rates is not always easy to find and not obviously visible on most advertising."

"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," he added.

British man Will Pierce was recently charged a bill close to £22,000 by Vodafone for using his mobilebroadband service to download videos during a skiing trip in France, the Daily Mail reports.