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Traditionally, built-in datacards have cost around £100 as an optional extra, but the deal between Lenovo, Vodafone and chip manufacturer Ericsson allows the feature to be included at minimal cost.

The first models to be released with the 3G Ericsson modules will be part of the ThinkPad T and X series, such as the X300, as well

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as the entire SL series.

The Vodafone deal will provide all laptop customers with a free 30-day trial, after which they can opt to continue with a monthly subscription deal from Vodafone.

However, it is not clear if the cards will be open for use with suppliers other than Vodafone, or if customers will be locked to the network. Lenovo was unable to answer our query at the time of publication.

"With this kind of technology seamlessly integrated into Lenovo's latest portfolio as standard, and Ericsson's module taking advantage of the recent upgrade to our network, Lenovo customers can enjoy simple, fast, and reliable connectivity with no more than click of the mouse," says Mark Bond, Vodafone UK's director of enterprise.

In our recent feature on mobile broadband we found that the external USB modem provided by Vodafone achieved a maximum speed of 1.9Mb/sec and an average of 1.3Mb/sec, although this average dropped to just under 900Kb/sec outside of London.