UK users shunning mobile broadband

Mobile broadband customers often complain of speeds comparable to dial-up

Sales of mobile broadband connections are plummeting, according to new figures from Broadband Expert.

The broadband comparison firm said consumers have realised that the technology does not live up to the hype, and that sales had "crashed" from 3,000 in May 2009 to 1,300 in May 2010.

Rob Webber, Broadband Expert's commercial director, explained that UK consumers often feel let down by their providers.

"Mobile broadband experienced phenomenal growth in the UK as consumers expected all the benefits of a home broadband connection while on the move," he said.

"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."

However, Broadband Expert predicts that the upcoming availability of superfast Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks will boost the use of mobile broadband, but that providers will have to speed up rollouts of the technology.

"LTE should boost mobile broadband speeds massively, with downloads speeds of over 100Mbit/s achieved in testing, so it could outperform and even replace home broadband in the future," he said.

"However, the UK needs to work faster to adopt the new technology required to reinstate consumer faith in mobile broadband services and help sales recover to their former level."

Ofcom published a map of mobile broadband availability this time last year, highlighting the many shortfalls in coverage.