Telecoms and Software news site Ovum have an interesting reaction piece by Steve Hartley to 3’s conference subject of mobile broadband speed. Steve thinks “an emphasis on speed will only spoil the mobile broadband party for everyone” and that mobile operators should learn from the fixed broadband space as “consumers are growing increasingly restless at the difference between advertised and actual speeds, which can only be damaging to the whole industry.”

Steve’s therefore in agreement with 3 that promoting ‘average speeds’ rather than ‘maximum speeds’ would be the ideal solution, although he thinks that the problems which define ‘maximum speeds’, such as distance from masts and signal strength, would also affect ‘average speeds’. Steve thinks “that there is potential for regulatory intervention, but to date the UK regulator, Ofcom, has remained silent” and that although 3 is trying to educate the media, they may not have enough power to overcome its bigger rivals if they wish to send out a different message regarding mobile broadband speeds.

Steve concludes by stating “speed should be avoided as a core marketing message as it will compare unfavourably with fixed broadband and mobile network variations make it a dangerous game to play”. Jump over to ovum for the full article.