News 

The "Mobile Broadband" campaign is intended to assure customers that any device bearing the logo can connect to the internet without them needing to hunt down a Wi-Fi hotspot first.

The logo will be backed by a $1 billion marketing campaign funded by launch partners including Microsoft, Asus and Dell.

In order to have the sticker slapped across its surface, the 3G device will need to be HSDPA compatible, ruling out Apple's first generation iPhone, for example. However, according to the company this is just the first phase of the campaign.

"Between now and Christmas hundreds of thousands of notebooks will ship with these stickers attached, but for the next phase GSM expects to see mobile broadband expand into a whole bunch of other devices," says a GSMA spokesperson.

"It's already turning up in cameras and MP3 players, but the GSMA's vision is that everything is connected to the internet. I believe there's even an umbrella now that's connected. It lets you know when you're about to get rained on."

According to the GSM Association, the 16 companies involved in the scheme represent 760 million wireless connections in 91 countries.