History of Mobile Broadband

Simply stated, mobile broadband can be defined as various types of wireless high-speed internet access through a portable modem, telephone or other device. Mobile broadband is a relatively new concept and one that most people don’t understand. Mobile broadband is highly specific and is only available through a select number of wireless products. Some devices that provide mobile broadband include, mobile data cards, USB modems, USB sticks, phones with data modems and laptops with the ability to use Mobile Broadband built-into them.

Although there is no clear date in history as to when mobile broadband was first introduced, it is noted that the first mobile networks were launched in the UK in 1985. During the early years, it was only possible to make simple phone calls and a person couldn’t leave voicemail. In the beginning, there were roughly 250,000 mobile subscribers in the UK, today there are more than 70 million active mobile subscriptions in the UK.

Early on, mobile broadband and mobile enabled devices were simply used for person-to-person communication, but that has drastically changed over the years. Today people use their mobile devices for sending person to person text messages, picture messages and video messages, browsing for information on the Internet, requesting the latest news or sports results, sending and receiving e-mail and specialist applications such as remote health monitoring of patients.

Mobile broadband has come a long way since its inception in the mid 80’s and with the way technology moves, it is sure to continue to grow and serve the needs and desires of customers worldwide.