Also at 3’s “media round table” on the 13th May was Anne Morris of Total Telecom, who reports at length on what was talked about, mobile broadband speeds and where 3 are headed next.

Though Anne thinks that 3 have “[thrown their] rattle out of the pram over Vodafone speed claims”, she represents 3’s side of the story. She writes on how 3 have said that “maximum line rates are often so far removed from average user rates that numbers should probably be avoided altogether” after they complained to the Advertising Standards Authority and the GSM Association about Vodaphones claim of broadband speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.

She goes into more detail, mentioning 3 UK chief technology officer Graham Baxter’s comment that the maximum possible user rate can never achieve the maximum line rate due to overheads of data packages being sent through any mobile network, as well as other factors such as signal strength, distance from the base station and non-mobile broadband traffic: “If the maximum line rate is 14.4 Mbps, for example, the maximum user rate is 12.91 Mbps. With 7.2 Mbps it is 6.69, and with 3.6 Mbps it is 3.42.”

The answer, according to 3, is not to promise unrealistic broadband speeds but increase the coverage and density of the network, as 3 plan to increase its sites from 7,500 to 13,000 by 2009 after making a network sharing deal with T-Mobile. This should increase 3’s population coverage up from 90% to 98%, reports Anne.

Other interesting titbits gathered by Anne include Jonathan Lutz announcing new products “such as a router to connect more than one user” which are planned this year. He added “that he fully expects the dongle to disappear once HSDPA becomes integrated into laptops”. HSPDA handsets will also be able to be used as modems by the end of 2008, according to Hugh Davies, head of corporate communications. Anne also mentions the pricing plan of 3’s mobile broadband: “£10 a month at 3 for 1 GB, or £15 for 3 GB” and the recent price cut of the 3 dongle from £99.99 to £49.99

Head over to Total Telecom to read Anne’s full report.