UK Consumers Fall Out of Love with Mobile Broadband as Sales Plummet

    SURREY, ENGLAND, June 24, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The UK's number one comparison site for mobile broadband says there has been a 57 percent drop in the number of people signing up for mobile broadband via the site in the last twelve months. Sales have dropped from approximately 3,000 in May 2009 to 1,300 in May 2010. The findings are further supported by Experian Hitwise data, which reports a drop of more than 50 percent in the amount of searches undertaken for the phrase 'mobile broadband' in the same period.

Rob Webber, Broadband Expert's commercial director, says that UK consumers have been let down by mobile broadband technology with slow speeds and poor coverage being the main factors: "Mobile broadband experienced phenomenal growth in the UK as consumers expected all the benefits of a home broadband connection whilst on the move. Sadly the technology has not lived up to the hype; we receive a huge amount of feedback from customers complaining of inconsistent or non-existent connections and speeds comparable to dial-up or worse."

Webber believes that the impending availability of a super fast LTE (Long Term Evolution) network will give mobile broadband the shot in the arm it needs to win back consumer confidence but is concerned that Britain is lagging behind in this area.

"We're already seeing companies rolling out LTE networks in the US and Europe," he says, "but the UK is still 12-18 months away from this. LTE should boost mobile broadband speeds massively, with downloads speeds of over 100mbps achieved in testing; so it could outperform and even replace home broadband in the future. However, the UK needs to work faster to adopt the new technology required to reinstate consumer' faith in the mobile broadband service and help sales recover to their former level."

About Richweb Media Ltd

Richweb Media Ltd is a private company that owns a number of comparison and consumer websites such as Broadband Expert (www.broadband-expert.co.uk) and its latest addition Mobile Phone Expert (www.mobilephone-expert.co.uk). The sites offer impartial advice and information on the latest deals available, allowing consumers to make more informed decisions when purchasing products and services.

For further information, please contact:

Helen Bailey
PR representative, Broadband Expert
[email protected]
01628 771909 / 07852 334178

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