 The UK's first 3G network was launched by 3 in March 2003, since when the company has offered handsets carrying consumer-orientated services such as video calls, location-based applications, sports highlights, games and so on. Although 3 has now signed up over a million customers in the UK, the lack of data services means that few of these are likely to be mobile professionals.
Data services are provided by Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and, most recently, O2.
These solutions, all based on a PC Card-plus-software bundle, are in their infancy and are evolving as the competitive landscape changes. Therefore, you'll need to look carefully at factors such as 3G network speed and coverage, handover between 3G, GPRS and in some cases Wi-Fi networks, and tariff structure.
| Latest 3G datacards |
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O2 Data Card 3G/GPRS
O2 follows Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile into the 3G market with a data card offering broadband connectivity on the move. Like T-Mobile and Vodafone, O2 adds Wi-Fi access to the 3G/GPRS connectivity bundle. However, you'll need an O2 phone to handle the Wi-Fi billing. |
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Orange 3G Mobile Office Card
Orange's 3G data card introduces some much-needed competition into this fledgling market, but there's still some way to go on pricing and usability. |
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T-Mobile 3G Communication Centre
T-Mobile's 3G datacard includes access to Wi-Fi hot-spots as part of the bundle, but its ease of installation and tariff structure could be improved.  |
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Vodafone 3G datacard
Data services, rather than video calls, could be the 'killer app' for 3G, and Vodafone is the first to market with its Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS datacard. It's not perfect, but it's a big step forward for mobile connectivity. |
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