Mobile internet

Posted on 14 Aug 2007 at 14:58

The charges could be forced down in the near future, as the European Union is looking to peg back the networks' profits in the same way it's capped roaming call prices. "Our campaign for a better deal for mobile users won't end there," says Labour MEP Eluned Morgan. "We're determined to extend it to tackle the massive overcharging for sending text messages and data when in other European countries."

It's a step in the right direction, but won't help anyone on holiday or business this summer. It's particularly galling when there's really no call for the inflated prices, especially now that the mobile operators own networks in other countries. Orange, for example, is French yet still charges UK customers £8 to download data when in the country. "When it's the same operator it's hard to see a reason for this other than to generate higher margins," says Husson.

Solution: Perhaps the best advice is to follow one telephone company spokesperson's wise words and "be very careful not to click the internet link when they are overseas". Find a hotspot instead, or consider buying a local SIM.

Shakey service

Using a mobile phone to surf the web has always been frustrating. Speeds are improving, but the mobile companies trying to brand their higher speed services as broadband is like calling Jade Goody culturally sensitive.

Even the head of the Mobile Data Association admits the mobile internet still leaves a lot to be desired and can't be used for the full gamut of web tasks. "VoIP still struggles over GPRS," MDA chairman Mike Short. "It's better on 3G, but the coverage isn't there yet."

Anyone expecting the whoosh factor of ADSL will be sorely disappointed, even with the stripped-down pages offered by the phone companies' compression that takes much of the richness, such as pictures, out of the internet.

"Mobile broadband - even with the latest 3.5G HSDPA technology - is still a long way from being as enjoyable a surfing experience as home broadband," said Jupiter Research's senior broadband analyst Ian Fogg. "The mobile guys are calling this broadband, but it's a long way short of the home broadband experience, mainly because of the latency. On a home connection that can be around 20 milliseconds, but it's upwards of 120 milliseconds on mobile, which is a lot closer to dial-up and there's much more waiting around."

Solution: Set expectations below the marketing hype. The services are good, but can't be called broadband. HSDPA services, available from most operators, but not currently O2, offer the fastest speeds and are a must for business users. Hardware such as a USB HSDPA modem brings high-speed cellular access on the move without the squint factor of mobile phones.