Super 3G in laptops: A good deal, faster?

Dell's decision to offer embedded HSDPA - super fast 3G - modems in its laptops is giving the UK its first taste of mobile connectivity that can compare to DSL speeds. But CIOs should think twice before rushing to roll out the technology to mobile workers.

According to Dell's Eric Greffier, the product is aimed at both large corporates with a significant proportion of remote staff or 'road warriors' and SMEs who may have the occasional need of remote-working capability but who don't have a data contract with Vodafone.

3G data cards are already slowly starting to catch on, with Vodafone announcing in its latest set of KPIs that around half a million are now in use. Industry watchers expect that number to grow to 5.7 million by 2008.

But will the 1Mbps-and-over download speeds offered by HSDPA be enough to convince new business users to jump on the wireless broadband bandwagon? Martin Gutberlut, research director with Gartner, said the different speeds at which connectivity and laptop hardware evolve should give enterprises pause for thought.

The current release of HSDPA is merely a first step, to be followed by a faster version of the technology at the end of this year and then in 2007 by HSUPA - 3G with both super fast uploading and downloading, while HSDPA just provides fast downloading. All of these changes will take place within the average lifespan of one laptop and each means a costly hardware upgrade - and a headache for the CIO.

Gutberlut said: "Generally embedded is not a bad idea, if you were installing the last version of broadband connectivity and that was it. In practice, it looks a little different. The product lifecycle of a notebook is not the lifecycle of connectivity."

While several operators have talked about HSDPA networks, Vodafone is the first to come good with the hardware necessary to connect. But what if the HSDPA-hungry don't fancy signing up to Big Red?

Dell's Greffier said the PC maker will remain agnostic should users seek to change their modem from Vodafone to another operator. "If for any reason, a customer wants to make it work with another provider, we can't prevent that," he said. "But if for any reason there's a failure on the hardware side, we're not going to help him."

Mark Newman, chief research officer at analyst house Informa Media and Telecoms, said such lockdowns could become common. "I think there'll be a lot more tie-ups of this nature over the next two years," he told silicon.com.

However, with broadband prices getting ever cheaper, analysts agree that 3G, of any iteration, will have to start appealing to CIOs' pockets as well their speed demons.

Newman said: "We've already seen in the US laptop makers starting to embed EV-DO [another 3G technology, slightly slower than HSDPA] and pricing it at $50 to $60 for unlimited usage. I think HSDPA will go that way."

Gartner's Gutberlut added that 3G roaming costs could act against HSDPA take up. "For road warriors staying in one country, it's fine - but when it comes to international usage, this is a clear limiter."