O2 launches mobile broadband - finally

By Nick Mansell on Thu 17 April 2008

Mobile broadband's been the hit of 2008 and now, finally, O2 customers will be able to get some of the action. With dongles from 3, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange all flying off the shelves, O2 has been conspicuous by its absence in the mobile broadband department but now it's given us details on its new service.

Its début offering will see current customers offered 3GB of high-speed data a month for a £20 subscription. That comes in at £5 more a month than both 3 and Vodafone's similar 3GB packages but O2 does include 'unlimited' (read 'fair use') access to The Cloud's 7,500-strong hotspot network as a bonus. Sadly, for those with smaller appetites, there are no low-use options. Similarly, data addicts will have to ration their usage or pay an extra 20p per excess megabyte as there's no equivalent of the 5GB packages available on other networks.

After some hiccups getting HSDPA up and running, O2 says users will be able to enjoy 1.8Mbps speeds from the off, rising to a more enticing 3.6Mbps from June. It says it's taken its time, "getting the customer experience right", so, in theory, it should be flawless.

Available from tomorrow, the USB modem will be free to those signing up for an 18 month contract or £119.99 for those who go for he one-month rolling contract option. The main catch is that it's only available to O2 customers on phone or home broadband packages. That does include pay as you go phone users but they'll need to top up at least £30 a quarter - or face a £10 a month price hike for their mobile broadband. Ouch!

And hold your horses if you're a business user. A deicated service will be launching on 1st May.