Mobile broadband isn’t speedy enough, says survey

Mobile broadband

Two-thirds of mobile broadband users are unhappy with the speed they receive, according to a new poll.

Comparison website Broadband Genie polled over 1,000 readers and found 63.8 per cent didn't think their broadband speed was fast enough.

Only 11.5 per cent said they were satisfied with the speed they received, clearly implying that users expectations of mobile broadband was not being met.

Editor of the site, Chris Marling, said on his blog: "This result is pretty damning for the industry and we hope the mobile broadband firms will sit up and take notice. We feel they are not being responsible in their advertising, and are overselling the product."

"Mobile broadband can be a fantastic thing, but the public needs to know its limitations - it is not as fast or as stable as fixed-line broadband for the majority of people, but can still be a great service too."

These survey results come at a time when both ends of the broadband speed spectrum are in the news.

Debate is continuing over Lord Carter's Digital Britain report asking whether the promised 2Mbps for every home by 2012 is fast enough and whether fixed line users should pay for the roll out.

On the other side of the scale, BT has just started its high speed broadband pilot of up to 60Mbps in Muswell Hill and Wales, whilst Virgin completed its 50Mbps rollout to 12 million homes this month.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.