According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, in 2007, 70% of all internet users have broadband at home. But when we’re on the move, we still crave information. We still want to Google things, check our e-mail, check the baseball scores, or see who’s written on our Facebook walls.
Wifi hotspots
There are several coffee chains, fast food chains, bookstores, and some downtown areas that have WiFi hotspots, some for free, some that you have to pay for. You could use a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) enabled cell phone. Or you could buy an iPhone or BlackBerry to surf sites with mobile phone versions. But the problem with using smart phones for surfing is that the speeds are slow, and the websites made for use on them are much simpler than the full service versions of the websites.
But recently, major cell phone carriers have brought DSL-like speed to mobile devices that are within range of a cell phone signal. This includes laptop computers as well as smart phones and other devices. Mobile broadband is powered, basically, by radio waves. Cell phone towers send packets of information back and forth on radio signals. With phone calls, the packets carry voice data, and with mobile broadband the packets of data carry things like web pages, streaming video, and e-mail.
The two basic technologies that operate mobile phone networks are Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM, which is more popular in Europe and Asia, and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), which is more popular in the U.S. The two systems differ in the way they share space on the radio spectrum. Mobile broadband is sometimes called “3G” for third generation mobile phone technology.
Mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is not, technically speaking, “broadband,” but mobile internet. However, the term mobile broadband is used for differenty types of wireless high-speed internet access using a phone, a portable modem, or some other piece of equipment. There are a number of network standards in use, including 3G, Flash-OFDMA, LTE, WiMAX, and GPRS. There are also satellite-based systems in use.
For the most part, however, mobile broadband refers to EVDO, which stands for “evolution data optimized,” a telecom standard for wireless transmission through radio signals. EVDO uses multiplexing techniques called CDMA (code division multiple access) and TDMA (time division multiple access) to maximize system throughput. The EVDO standard has been adopted by many service providers who previously used CDMA networks. To use EVDO, or its alternative, known as HSDPA, you need either a device with a built-in card or a s pecial card that plugs in to your computer. To get HSDPA, an alternative enhanced 3G communications protocol, you’ll need to be within range of a signal. These are concentrated in metropolitan areas and along the major thoroughfares.
Although the term mobile broadband is used widely, the actual mobile networks that are not attached to mobile phones are still quite small in terms of subscribers. These are networks like WiMax, iBurst, and portable satellite terminal systems and have far fewer users than fixed wireless broadband. In North America, the mobile phone networks are CDMA-1, GSM, 3G TDMA, and CDMA, while WiMax and iBurst are used for data only and uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) for voice service. In the future, the “real” mobile broadband networks like WiMax are likely to be much more expensive on a per-gigabyte basis than fixed broadband (like most people have in homes or offices) or fixed broadband wit hout phone line.
Mobile broadband can be provided by USB modems, USB sticks, data cards, and notebook or netbook computers with built-in mobile broadband devices. Built-in mobile broadband modules are available in Europe and Asia on laptop computers made by Acer, Toshiba, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, and Dell. Mobile phone producers, telecommunication manufacturers, notebook computer manufacturers, and chipset makers have lobbied hard for built-in mobile broadband technology on notebook computers.
Speed problem
One problem that brings down the speed of broadband without phone line is that when it is used by fixed users who could instead use fixed broadband, the performance for those who really are using the network “on the go” can be extremely slow. However, in 2002, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) established standard IEEE 802.20, which is the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) Working Group. The long term goal of IEEE 802.20 is worldwide deployment of always-on, interoperable mobile broadband that is affordable to both business and residential users.
Emerging broadband without phone line markets that have not started out with fixed broadband infrastructure have in some cases bypassed fixed infrastructure altogether to develop mobile broadband technology for high-speed access available to the general public. Currently the most widespread method of delivering mobile broadband is the Third Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP standards, which serve around 90% of mobile subscribers worldwide.
Future UK broadband
The UK is aiming for 100% broadband without phone line coverage, with speeds of at least 2 Mbps by the year 2012. Mobile broadband (really mobile internet) using the 3G network is not expected to have speeds that high in remote areas of the UK, however. The suggestion has been made that Ka Satellite be pressed into service for rural areas. This service is expected to be inexpensive if the Eutelsat Ka-Sat is launched successfully. Satellite latency is a given, but even so it should be faster than the alternative.
Every provider in the U.S. in 2009 offered 5 GB of data per month at $60 per month, or $12 per GB. However, network outages affecting AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have led some to conclude that the companies not only share the same pricing strategy but also the same physical networks, leading to allegations of price fixing.
In the USA, mobile internet providers include T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, Alltel, U.S. Cellular, and ACS. The UK has T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, 3-Mobile, and O2 PLC. In Australia, the providers are Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, 3-Mobile, Optus, and Telstra, while in New Zealand, Telecom Xtra is the mobile internet provider.
U.S. carrier ranking
The website TopTenReviews.com ranked the seven U.S. carriers from best to worst in the following order:
1. Verizon Wireless
2. AT&T
3. Sprint Nextel
4. T-Mobile
5. Alltel
6. US Cellular
7. ACS
All cost the same, so for most people the choice comes down to service area and features.
It is important to note, however, that you can’t always rely on the coverage maps that the various carriers post on the internet. If you’re planning to go anywhere that coverage might be “iffy,” it’s important to call ahead and verify that there is indeed coverage there if you need to have internet access for your work.
Mobile broadband is steadily becoming more important to modern life, where people want to stay connected with the internet wherever they go. Particularly for people whose work takes them on the road frequently, having access to mobile broadband is important. While coverage is far from uniform, it is growing all the time. The use of existing networks, the expansion of networks into more remote areas, and filling in gaps using satellite broadband is gradually increasing the parts of the planet on which people can access the internet using mobile technology.
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