Abroadband Defies Decline In Dongle Use & Anticipates The EU Data Cap
abroadband provides both a dongle and a sim card to offer customers the lowest worlwide data roaming rates. The company have anticipated the EU Data Cap and already provide the lowest data rates worlwide.
Online, August 25, 2011 (Newswire.com) - 'abroadband has defied the steady decline in Dongle use by offering its customers global roaming access. The dongle which is available for €49.90 on the company's website offers users low cost roaming from over 50 countries worldwide. The difference is that the dongle is the latest Huawei E173 and is sim enabled allowing the user access to a flat rate of €0.59 per megabyte. This rate is applicable to all the countries abroadband operates in (source:www.abroadband.com).
With recent research showing that 28% of all the UK's internet browsing is done on Smartphones (source: www.technologyblogged.com), the decline in Dongle use is understandable. Yet getting internet on your mobile overseas is a different story as abroadband shows. Currently the roaming market is not price conscious and has many pitfalls and traps for users fall into. Even the lowest charge from the '3' network comes in at £1.28 per megabyte (source: www.broadbandgenie.co.uk). The reason for most of the high costs is the steady increase in Smartphone use in the past two years. The dongle has been usurped as the leading internet access device despite the superior speeds.
For travelling purposes though, a dongle makes more sense in many ways then a Smartphone. Business travellers are more likely to need a laptop or tablet device when on the move. A Smartphone just doesn't provide the same depth of access and functionality that a laptop can. The dongle from abroadband provides flexibility with a removable roaming sim card that can be used on both a Smartphone and a dongle. As a result the operator has seen a rise in users.
Unlike a lot of operators, abroadband is competing in a market that has seen a lot of customer backlash. ZDNet conducted a survey of all its readers from around the world and discovered that 80% had claimed to have received a data roaming bill they thought was excessive (source: www.zdnet.co.uk). This trend is reflected across all countries. Abroadband offer an alternative to the standard service providers.
The EU cap on roaming data charges that was recently applied limits phone users to €50 of data. However, users can override this cap if they wish to by contacting their operator before travelling. There are no set proposals in place when this cap expires in 2012 and regulators and authorities fear that prices will rise again. The abroadband model shows that people are no longer willing to accept high charges imposed upon them by the larger operators. When the actual costs of providing data gateways and services for roaming are taken into account, customer dissatisfaction is understandable. Hugh Davies from the operator '3' has gone on record to highlight the actual costs which are between 1-3p (2-4cents) per megabyte (source: www.zdnet.co.uk).
The EU cap does not apply to the rest of the world so the service that abroadband provides is timely. The connection speeds are high and the best available networks are chosen from country to country. Perhaps the most useful tool for travellers, the cost manager available on the website allows users to plan their data use and know exactly how much money they will need to spend. The main difference between abroadband and the larger operators lies in the simplicity of the service. There are no hidden charges or penalties. A look around the website indicates that they have gone out of their way to highlight the costs. Ewan MacLeod from Mobile Industry Review describes the service as 'No strings, no nonsense' (source: www.mobileindustryreview.com).
In today's economic climate, abroadband offers the service all mobile operators should be offering.