Vodafone gets Stick for wireless broadband

Vodafone is expanding its mobile data access in the UK with a new USB modem that closely resembles a standard USB Flash drive.

The modem connects to Vodafone's HSUPA high speed mobile broadband service launched in early December.

The upgraded network allows download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1.44Mbps, but is currently available only in parts of central London and at major airports.

The speeds are respectively 14 and 22 times faster than the original 3G service launched in 2004.

Vodafone claimed that the USB Modem Stick is the smallest and slimmest yet, and supports Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OSX.

"For personal use or remote working, customers buy Vodafone for predictability, unrivalled speeds, reliability and ease of use," said Kyle Whitehill, enterprise director at Vodafone UK.

"As a result, they have increased their usage six-fold as they use the service to work more productively or surf the internet.

"Vodafone was the first to improve download speeds with HSDPA and the first to increase upload speeds with HSUPA."

The Stick is available on a £25 mobile broadband flat rate and prices for the device itself start from just £49 with an 18-month contract.