Mobile Broadband subscriptions are expected to reach 1 billion
in 2011: so many of us are already users, but do we all know how
it works? Mobile broadband technology allows you to do
everything you usually use your broadband connection for without
needing a fixed-line telephone connection. This means you can
access the internet while you’re on the move or away from home.
Send email, visit websites — even watch streaming TV and
download files — it’s all possible. Mobile broadband works using
either a small portable USB modem (often called a dongle, or
broadband stick), a data-card or a built-in device (on some
laptops and smartphones) to connect to the internet using the
same signal mobile phones use. This means, wherever you are, as
long as you can get a signal from your mobile broadband
provider, you can connect to the web, unlike Wi-Fi internet
access, which is limited to a few meters around the emitting
router. Most of us have used this technology on our mobile
phones through 3G, short for third generation