Understanding Mobile Broadband Technology
The mobile phone market in Australia has always been a strong one with in excess of 100% penetration before the influx of 3G high speed services in 2007. This lead to even more market growth, and these 3G mobile networks have been used by various providers to give mobile broadband to a huge number of customers around the country. In mid 2008 experts predicted a growth of 76% for the fledging mobile broadband market in Australia, creating over three quarters of a billion dollars of revenue for Australia’ economy and providing high speed broadband to those in areas unreachable by traditional landline services.
Now, statistics and money making potential aside, the mobile broadband model is so successful because of its portability and its simplicity of use for the average consumer, so let’ examine in moderate detail the inner workings of mobile broadband. We’ll also try and demystify some of the more confusing industry jargon along the way, so keep your eyes peeled. First up there’s the only piece of kit that you’ll need to access a mobile broadband connection, the mobile broadband dongle. Each provider will have a slightly different size, shape and design of mobile broadband dongle on offer, but in essence they all perform the same task in the same way. They connect to your laptop or PC via any spare USB port and are roughly the same size and shape as a USB memory stick you’ll almost certainly have encountered at work or at home. Inside the dongle is a small USB modem which will facilitate the reception and transmission of data with the nearest 3G networking communications tower. All of the software necessary to set up the connection on your computer will be loaded into the dongle so there’s no need for additional media and it really is a case of plugging it in and getting online in minutes.
Where most dongles differ is in the speed at which they can download and upload information, and this is further influenced by the capabilities of the 3G network offered by your chosen provider. Speeds of up to 3.6Mbps or up to 7.2Mbps are the two current standard maximums, but again your position relative to the network tower and the levels of coverage in your area will further influence the download speed.
Other key parts of the mobile broadband business plan are the monthly cost, contract length and most importantly data allowance. The data allowance, measured in Gigabytes, will dictate how much you can use your mobile broadband connection and for what purposes. For example, a contract which offers a limit of 1BG a month will give you around 10 hours of light web surfing time, much less if you want to download larger files. The more data allowance you want per month the more you`ll have to pay. Like looking for cheap mobile phones the best mobile broadband offers with the most data for your dollars can be found by using online price comparison.
