The current thinking that mobile broadband has to be based around a contract will change, claims T-Mobile's UK head of mobile Internet and entertainment, Richard Warmsley, and move towards pay-per-use as consumers become more interested in accessing high-speed mobile Internet services.
According to Warmsley, T-Mobile will shift into pay-per-day/week/month options for new customers. "This will give the mass market a chance to try mobile broadband. They can purchase their dongle and pay for usage as and when they need it. If we bundle things together then the bill is clear."
He said that T-Mobile wanted to focus on customers' "real needs and how they want to use mobile broadband"--and so will be sticking with cost per day or month based tariffs rather than costing by the amount of data customers use. Warmsley pointed towards the example of choosing mobile broadband and a high-end phone such as a G1-Internet phone. "The consumer would get an appropriate package to include ‘internet on the phone' minutes," he said.
Commenting on the possible access rates, Warmsley said he believed 4.5Mb was the maximum possible speed any customer had achieved. "1-2Mb is typical on our network, while 2-3Mb is achievable, and you can get 4.5Mb in bigger cities, depending on the circumstances," he said.
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