Tuesday 1 December 2009

3 admits that mobile broadband can't meet user demand for video

Interesting to see this article about 3's concessions to people who have suffered poor mobile broadband services. Clearly, given the nature of MBB coverage, the service won't be suitable for some customers. Try-before-you-buy and no-quibbles money back guarantees should be a fixture in any operator's MBB offering.


What caught my eye though, was comments from Hugh Davies that mobile broadband was never intended for video downloading and streaming. A quick look at their website also shows that they're now stating that for video usage, fixed is best. The implication being that MBB is, and will remain, a complement rather than a replacement to DSL. If MBB can't meet user demand for video usage now, it's unlikely to be able to do so in the future. Usage will probably grow faster than supply.


Of course, I have always maintained that MBB is a complement to fixed (see here) but it's particularly interesting to see a mobile-only player admit that a subscriber's broadband needs can't be met by mobile!


2 comments:

  1. Coverage is a mysterious business. A few months ago I visited a friend a few miles outside Newquay in Cornwall. According to their coverage maps, none of the operators had 3G coverage in the area, but my Three Huawei E220 3G dongle gave a perfectly usable connection. On the strength of this, my friend bought a Three MiFi unit. Sad to say, it cannot get a connection at all in exactly the same spot where my E220 dongle was fine.

    I suppose she can hardly complain to Three, as according to their map they don't cover her house anyway.

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  2. Else opt out for some different package, just go online and check sites that offer comparison for broadband providers.

    Compare Broadband Providers

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