O2 sharing phone numbers for mobile surfers (but not everyone)

UK carrier O2 finds itself embroiled in data protection controversy today, with allegations that the operator is revealing mobile users cellphone number to each website they visit on their phone. According to Lewis Peckover, buried in among the header data from each O2 visitor is a line revealing their own mobile number; he set up a site to show off just what O2 is including. However, while some O2 users are corroborating the claims, our own tests have failed to do so.

We visited the site on a Galaxy Nexus using an O2 SIM and the carrier’s 3G network, and saw no evidence of the number registered to the account. The screenshot above shows exactly what data is being received by Peckover’s site.

Where his testing identified a line in the headers called “x-up-calling-line-id:” with the mobile number in international format, though, ours did not. A quick check of Twitter indicates we’re not the only one to see it too. O2 says, via Twitter, that “we’re checking this out with our internal teams as we speak. Once we’ve got an update, we’ll let everyone know.”

Some giffgaff subscribers – an MVNO using O2′s network – also report seeing their own number show up in the headers. Even inconsistent across users, though, the issue could be potentially very damaging to O2′s reputation; we’ll update when we know more.

Update: TNW is reporting that its own testing – using an iPhone on O2 – showed the account’s phone number in the header data.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: 3G, 3G Network, Data Protection, Giffgaff, Mobile Broadband, MVNO, O2, Twitter, UK

Posted in 3G, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Networks, O2 | No Comments »

3G Tablets fall from favor say researchers

Integrated data connections in tablets along with mobile hotspot connected slates are falling from favor, new research suggests, with WiFi-only use proliferating among owners of iPads and other models. While 60-percent of tablet owners used WiFi only and 5-percent reported some intent of subscribing to a mobile broadband plan within the next six months back in Apri, NPD Group discovered, cellular use has actually shrunk in intervening period.

In fact, WiFi-only use is now up to 65-percent, indicating tableteers are sticking to WiFi hotspots and avoiding cellular data plans. “Concern over the high cost of cellular data plans is certainly an issue,” NPD’s Eddie Hold says, ”but more consumers are finding that Wi-Fi is available in the majority of locations where they use their tablets, providing them ‘good enough’ connectivity.”

Hold told SlashGear that NPD had 3,300 participants in the survey, with a mixture of WiFi-only and WiFi + 3G tablets owned.. “But even Wi-Fi only tablets could be connected through smartphone-hotspot or Mi-Fi options” Hold pointed out to us.

“In addition,” the survey concluded, “the vast majority of tablet users already own a smartphone, which fulfills the ‘must have’ connectivity need.” That sentiment seems, in part at least, to be increasingly echoed by manufacturers producing tablets. ASUS, for instance, confirmed earlier this month that it had no plans to produce a 3G/UMTS version of the Transformer Prime, citing low customer response to the variant.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: 3G, MiFi, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Hotspots, Tablet PC's, WiFi

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O2 London LTE trial promises 100Mbps to lucky few

O2 has launched its first 4G LTE network in the UK, kicking off a trial of the high-speed service in London that will offer testers up to 100Mbps. The scheme will run for nine months, with 25 sites going live in November and that being ramped up until a total combined area of 40km gets service. However, participation in the trial will not be generally available.

Instead, O2 is targeting businesses and entertainment venues, such as retailer John Lewis and the O2 Arena. They’ll give performance and usability feedback to the carrier, which will be used to shape O2′s bid for spectrum when the UK bands are put up for license in 2012.

The trial will use the temporarily licensed 2.6GHz frequency, which O2 claims is capable of supporting up to 150Mbps downloads. Samsung’s B3730 is O2′s modem of choice for the test run, a USB stick which also supports 2100MHz WCDMA and dualband GPRS/EDGE for when users are outside of LTE coverage.

“The time to download a 500MB file could be as fast as under one minute,” O2 boasts, “compared to over 5 minutes on 3G,” with around 1,000 participants expected to get their hands on the coveted modems. Coverage will span key areas from London’s Hyde Park to the O2 Arena, with Canary Wharf, Soho, Westminster, South Bank and Kings Cross all highlighted as getting LTE.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: 3G, 4G, London, LTE, Mobile Broadband, O2, USB Dongle

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97% of Three’s network traffic is data

Ninety-seven per cent of the traffic carried on the Three network is data, according to a company blog posted this afternoon. Do people even make phone calls anymore?

The British Telco angled themselves as a 3G data network when they started in 2003 and that’s now one of their big selling points: usually offering bulkier data deals than other providers.

[S]ince June last year and September this year (just 14 months) we’ve seen a 427% increase in data usage on Three for smartphone customers. Downloading apps, streaming movies, getting around town with Google Maps, even checking in on Facebook – it all adds up, and you’re doing it now more than ever.

Problems ahead for data-guzzlers include the spectrum shortage forecast over the next four to five years.

Article: RSS via The Register

Tags: 3, 3G, Data, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Data, Mobile Networks, Three, UK

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Virgin Media to beef up mobile-data backhaul

Three, Orange, T-Mobile ink £100m deal for extra grunt

Three, T-Mobile and Orange customers will find it quicker to use the internet on their phones thanks to a new deal between the operators and Virgin Media Business. But the effects may take a couple of years to kick in.

Virgin Media has sold use of its UK-wide network of cables to the three carriers in an eight-year £100m deal. Virgin will also build 14 regional datacentres to boost bandwidth to Three, T-Mobile and Orange.

The new Ethernet system will also lay groundwork for the faster, more efficient 4G network, which will bring in speeds of 100Mb/s to end users, compared to the 1-3Mb/s available on 3G. But don’t hold your breath for 4G internet, it’s not coming to the UK for several more years.

Virgin Media said in a press release:

“With mobile data traffic set to increase by 33 times over the next decade all mobile operators are under increasing pressure to deal with the surge in mobile data. The mobile backhaul network will unlock capacity for the future.”

Article: RSS via The Register

Tags: 3, 3G, 3G Networks, 4G, Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Orange, T-Mobile, Three, Virgin Media

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Three tackles rural Wi-Fi problem with MiFi

Network teams up with Countryside Alliance

If you live in the good-old English countryside you’re lucky enough to breathe the fresh air everyday, take long walks without risk of being run over by a Boris bike and drink a pint of proper beer that costs less than £4.50.

But chances are, you probably don’t get as good broadband coverage as your city-slicking cousins. Luckily though, Three has teamed up with Countryside Alliance to form the Rural Broadband Working Group – an initiative to supply free internet coverage to the rural “not-spots”.

Three will supply dongles and MiFi devices to give away around 4 million MBs of free connectivity, in a move supported by the Race Online 2012 team.

The first place to benefit will be Gringley-on-the-Hill in North Nottinghamshire – a village of around 750 people. The village will be supplied with 30 mobile broadband dongles and MiFi devices.

Hugo Dunkley, chairman of the Gringley-on-the-Hill Parish Council, said: “We had written to the House of Lords, our local MP, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and even a large fixed-line provider about the lack of comprehensive broadband in the community, but with no success. There was broadband in a small corner of the village, but everywhere else speeds were frustratingly slow.

“Mobile broadband has addressed this problem and the dongles are allowing the people and businesses of the village to use the Internet to its full potential for the first time.”

David Dyson, CEO at Three said, “Thousands of communities still cannot access fixed line broadband services, but they do have access to a mobile broadband network, and that’s where this new initiative comes in.

“We have built a network designed for the Internet and are passionate about using this to help more and more people experience the everyday benefits this can bring”

Article: RSS via Pocket-lint

Tags: 3, MiFi, Mobile Broadband, Three, Three USB Dongle

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New MiFi – coming soon to Three.

Today Three announces a new, high speed Mobile Wi-Fi device – the Huawei E586 MiFi – which will be the first mobile Wi-Fi device in the UK to feature next generation HSPA+ mobile broadband technology.

The new MiFi will allow customers to experience significant speed gains compared to the existing award-winning MiFi. Initially around 40% faster, those figures will increase even further as Three ramps up its upgrade programme and rolls out the HSPA+ 21.1Mbps standard across its high-speed 3G network.*

The features and functionality Three’s customers have come to know and love from the Three MiFi are still there. Fast, secure Wi-Fi for iPads, laptops or handheld games consoles at the touch of a button. An OLED screen displaying key information like the amount of data used, speed of the current connection and length of browsing time, and a new look dashboard for viewing SMS and changing settings. In addition a new feature allows users to see their Wi-Fi user name and password on screen at the touch of a button for fast pairing with new gadgets.

David Kerrigan, head of mobile broadband at Three commented: “As the UK’s biggest 3G mobile broadband network, we’re delighted to introduce our high speed mobile Wi-Fi product. This joins our award winning HSPA+ dongles making us the only operator offering an entirely next generation HSPA+ enabled range of mobile broadband products. Aside from this step up in speed, the new cradle charger, which looks great, will help people get the best performance in the home.”

The new MiFi, built by Huawei, will be available in store and online from September.

Key features:

• Charging cradle
• 21.1 Mbps technical standard Download (HSDPA )
• 5.76 Mbps technical standard Uplink (HSUPA)
• Internal Memory slot for micro SD card that supports up to 32GB
• Approximately 4.5 hours battery life

* Three is aiming to have 80% of its network upgraded to HSPA+ by the end of this year, with the rest following soon afterwards

For more information on Three’s broadband products visit: 3 Mobile Broadband

Tags: 3, 3G, 3G Network, HSPA+, Huawei, Huawei E586, MiFi, Mobile Broadband, Three

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Orange signals mobile broadband tariff tweaks

Box of MiFi tricks up its sleeve

Network giant Orange has refreshed its mobile broadband plans while touting a new Wi-Fi device for those on the move.

Orange’s ‘Small’ plan offers an initial allowance of 500MB and costs £10 a month. Although for a fiver more, customers can benefit from the ‘Medium’ plan, which doubles the allowance to 1GB and throws in unlimited Wi-Fi.

Those with demand for more – or sufferers of Goldilocks syndrome – may want to move to the ‘Large’ plan, which offers 3GB allowance as well as the free Wi-Fi for £30 a month.

Customers already on the network – be that home broadband or mobile – will benefit from a £5 reduction of these figures.

The company has also announced a palm-sized wireless receiver box, which supports up to five connections simultaneously, and packs a Micro SD slot for sharing files between devices. The Orange E5830C Mobile Wi-Fi kit will be available in the coming weeks, with prices ranging from £20-60 depending on the mobile broadband tariff chosen.

Article: RSS via Reg Hardware

Tags: MiFi, Mobile Broadband, Orange, WiFi

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Clearwire Clear Spot 4G Apollo: New portable hotspot that can handle 8 connections, does 6 hours per charge

Clearwire, America’s WiMAX operator that supplies Sprint with their 4G network and is also facing some serious financial woes, has announced a new piece of hardware, the Clear Spot 4G Apollo. It’s a portable WiFi hotspot, meaning it takes the WiMAX signal that’s hopefully in your neck of the woods and converts it to WiFi so things like your laptop, smartphone, Kindle, whatever, can connect to the internets. Curiously enough, Clearwire doesn’t specify whether this device is capable of roaming on 3G networks. This is important since WiMAX isn’t exactly blanketing the 48 contiguous states at the moment, in fact there are huge pockets of the country that lack coverage. But hey, for $99 and no need for a 2 year contract, this thing is a steal. Plans start at $35 per month for unlimited “at home” use, $45 for unlimited “mobile” use, and $55 for unlimited “home and mobile” use. We have absolutely no idea what that means, so we feel rather bad for consumers who have to figure this stuff out on their own.

The bigger question here is do dedicated devices like these even need to be purchased now that most every Android phone on the market, not to mention every iPhone, already offer the same “hotspot” capability? You may argue that having a device like this is beneficial because if it dies, well … at least you still have your phone. That’s true, but it’s yet another piece of gear to lug around and make sure you’ve got charged up. Operators tend to charge more for tethering plans, which is a bummer, but you can easily get around that by opting to buy an unlocked device for full price and then shoving your SIM card inside. Something like the Google Nexus S is perfect for this.

What’s your experience with dedicated portable hotspots. Are they worth the money?

Update: Nope, no 3G roaming.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: 4G, 4G Network, Clear Spot 4G Apollo, Clearwire, MiFi, Mobile Broadband, Wireless Hotspot

Posted in 4G, Mobile Broadband, Other News | No Comments »

T-Mobile UK Preps Truly Unlimited Mobile Broadband and Smartphone Deal for July

Mobile operator T-Mobile UK, which in recent times has perhaps become better known for restricting its Mobile Broadband data allowances instead of raising them (here), will from next month launch a new “truly unlimited internet” service with “no fair use limits or run on rates” for Smartphone users.

ISPreview.co.uk understands that the new deal will be available to any customers that purchase a 24 month contract or whom are already paying £25 or more a month for their mobile service. The new deals are due to surface between 1st and 4th July next month.

The move is likely an attempt to take on Three (3) UK, which last year went in the opposite direction to most by launching The One Plan with “all-you-can-eat data“. The deal had previously only come with a 1GB usage allowance.

Until recently the mobile industry had been extremely worried about low revenues and growing data usage, which prompted a crackdown on “unlimited” services. That certainly didn’t last long.

Article: RSS via ISPreview

Tags: 3, Mobile Broadband, T-Mobile, The One Plan, Three, Unlimited Data

Posted in 3 / Three, Mobile Broadband, T-Mobile | No Comments »