Broadband News & Mobile Broadband News

Mobile operator Three (three.co.uk/iPad) is offering its iPad SIM card for just £7.50 a month as it looks to attract the thousands of Brits who have received an Apple iPad 3G this Christmas.

The £7.50 a month plan includes the Three iPad SIM card which when inserted into the iPad connects to the company’s award winning 3G network which offers mobile broadband speeds up to 7.2Mbps across 97% of the UK.

The plan, available on a rolling one month contract basis, comes with a 1GB monthly data allowance which is enough to send 1,000 emails, surf the Web for 10 hours, download 5 four minute videos and download 32 four minute music tracks.

Customers requiring more data can opt for Three’s 10GB iPad plan which costs £15 a month.

The 10GB plan, again available on a flexible one month contract, provides sufficient data to send around 7,000 emails, surf the Internet for 70 hours, download 35 four minute videos and download 224 four minute music tracks.

New iPad 3G owners not wanting any contract tie in can order one of Three’s pay as you go iPad plans.

For a one-off £10, users can purchase a pay as you go (PAYG) iPad SIM that comes pre-loaded with 1GB of data that lasts up to 30 days.

A PAYG iPad SIM with 3GB’s of data is also available for a one-off £20.

Users opting for pay as you go can easily top up when they run out of data allowance. Top ups cost £2 for 500MB, £10 for 1GB, £15 for 3GB and £25 for 7GB.

Three was recently rated the UK’s No.1 network for Mobile Broadband by YouGov. Its advanced 3G network is well placed to enable Brits to get the most out of their new iPad 3G.

Interested readers can find out more information and order their iPad SIM card online at the three.co.uk/iPad website.

Mobile operator 3 (three.co.uk/mifi) is giving Britons free access to mobile broadband Wi-Fi as part of a promotion that sees the deployment of ‘Human Hotspots’ across London, Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle.

The ‘Human Hotspots’ are using 3’s MiFi wireless router device which connects to the company’s 3G network to create a mobile broadband Wi-Fi hotspot.

Passers-by who spot a Human Hotspot can trial using their Wi-Fi gadgets, like netbooks, Apple iPads & Amazon Kindles to connect to the internet for free using the Human Hotpot’s MiFi.

The launch of the ‘Human Hotspot’ initiative follows recent research undertaken by 3 which found that more people are going online anywhere they can with their mobile gadgets and are thus are in need of a strong and reliable 3G connection.

A third of respondents also said they were planning to buy a Wi-Fi enabled mobile gadget like a tablet (e.g Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab), Sony Playstation PSP or an Amazon Kindle, as a Christmas gift this year.

Commenting on this, Matthew Halfin, a spokesperson for 3 said; “Three’s 3G network was designed for the mobile internet, so we can give people the very best online experience with their mobile gadgets. This will be particularly important over the Christmas period as a third of people head online with their new mobile toys.”

3’s Wi-Fi wireless router device, known as MiFi, can connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices at once and is available on a pay monthly or pay as you go basis.

Pay monthly plans start from £9.50 a month for 1GB of data over an 18 month contract.

Perfect as a Xmas gift, MiFi pay as you go plans are available for a one-off £69.99 and come pre-loaded with 3GB of data that is valid for up to 3 months. Users can then top up anytime they want with the amount of data they require.

Interested readers can find out more information on 3’s MiFi packages at the three.co.uk website.

Mobile operator 3 UK (three.co.uk) has refreshed its range of mobile broadband laptop deals with the addition of three new laptops.

Launched today, the new laptops which are available as part of a mobile broadband and laptop bundle, include the Samsung RV510, the Compaq CQ56 and the Samsung R540.

The Samsung RV510 has an Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.3Ghz processor, 500GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, 15.6″ HD LED display and comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium.

On sale with mobile broadband speeds up to 7.2Mbps and a 15GB monthly usage allowance, this laptop and mobile broadband bundle is priced at £35 a month, with a one-off £39.99 upfront fee required.

The Compaq CQ56 laptop features a 15.6″ HD display, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium.

Available for £30 a month with the same up to 7.2Mbps mobile broadband speeds and 15GB monthly data usage allowance, the up front charge for this bundle is less at just £29.99.

The high specified Samsung R540 laptop has an Intel Core i3 2.4Ghz processor, 500GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM and 15.6″ HD LED display.

Equipped with Windows 7 Home Premium, this laptop costs £40 a month and includes the 3 mobile broadband 15GB plan. A one-off up-front charge of £49.99 applies.

All three laptop and mobile broadband bundles include a free ZTE MF112 black USB modem which when inserted into the USB port of the laptop automatically connects to 3’s mobile broadband network which covers 97% of the UK.

3 was recently named the UK’s best mobile broadband provider in a survey conducted by YouGov.

Interested readers can find out more about the new laptops at the three.co.uk or use our mobile broadband free laptop comparison service to compare laptop deals from 3, Vodafone and O2.

Mobile Internet provider 3 (three.co.uk) has boosted its mobile broadband coverage to 97% of the UK population following the completion of its £400 million network upgrade project.

The three-year long improvement programme has brought new mobile broadband coverage to rural areas in the UK and added crucial capacity to the UK’s cities.

During the project over 4,900 sites were added to the UK’s biggest 3G network to help meet the surge in demand for mobile broadband use led by the UK’s smartphone and laptop dongle users.

To put this in some sort of context, the 4,900 site addition translates to an area more than twice the size of Wales being added to 3’s mobile broadband network.

Commenting on the upgrade, 3’s CEO, Kevin Russell said: “Thousands of people across the country have put in a phenomenal amount of work to build the UK’s biggest mobile broadband network”.

Russell continued: “Smartphone and Mobile Broadband use is exploding and we have built a 3G network that reaches further than ever before, as well as bringing more capacity into urban areas where our customers need it most”.

3 currently offers mobile broadband speeds up to 7.2Mbps with prices starting from £7.50 a month for a 1GB data usage allowance. Users can get a generous 15GB download allowance for just £15 a month.

Readers can find out further information on 3’s tariffs at the three.co.uk website or our 3 mobile broadband review.

3 (three.co.uk) has added the Acer D260 netbook and the Samsung N230 to its range of mobile broadband free laptop deals.

Available for free with the 3 mobile broadband 1GB data plan costing £17.50 a month, the Acer D260 is a excellent portable netbook, weighing just 1.25kg and capable of lasting up to six hours from one battery charge.

It is also well specified with an Intel Atom 1.66Ghz processor, a 10.1″ display, 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM – with the Windows 7 Starter operating system also included together with a free ZTE MF112 black USB modem.

Customers wanting a higher monthly mobile broadband download usage allowance can opt for 3’s 15GB data plan costing £25 a month and still receive the Acer D260 netbook for free.

3’s second new netbook is the sleek Samsung N230 which also features an Intel Atom 1.66Ghz processor, 10.1″ display, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter – but differs with a larger 250GB hard drive.

Weighing just 1.1kg and only 24mm thin, the Samsung N230 is ultra portable and has an impressive 10 hour battery life upon charging.

Customers can receive the Samsung N230 for free when they order online the 3 mobile broadband 5GB data plan costing £35 a month over an 18 month contract.

A free USB modem is also included which connects the netbook to the 3 mobile broadband network which provides download speeds up to 7.2Mbps.

Interested readers can find out more at the three.co.uk or use our mobile broadband free laptop comparison service to compare laptops deals from 3, Vodafone, O2 and Orange.