According to a broadband expert, it is unlikely that fixed line broadband connections will ever be replaced or superseded by the mobile broadband alternatives. The comments were made by Edd Dawson, the editor of a UK broadband specialist site, although Dawson is not alone in questioning the viability and sustainability of mobile broadband services.

The reasoning behind the argument is that consumers will continue to purchase mobile broadband only as a supplementary connection to their existing fixed line service. This is because mobile broadband costs are comparatively higher than fixed line equivalents, whilst real speeds have been revealed in a recent survey to be far lower than most manufacturers are willing to admit.

Dawson likens the continued relevance of home broadband to the fate of desktop PCs, which in the face of stiff competition from laptops and netbooks are still managing to sell well. Laptops, like mobile broadband, are considered to be ideal for casual and occasional use, but not as a replacement for a powerful desktop PC with a fast home broadband connection.

It is believed that the same theory can be applied across the whole spectrum of users, with home owners as well as businesses sticking with the reliability and availability of fixed line broadband whilst complimenting this connection with the roaming capabilities of mobile broadband.

The future of mobile broadband as a primary connection has been further brought into question due to the wider availability of cheap cable broadband in the UK. Cable has several advantages over both ADSL and mobile broadband and with its faster and more consistent connection speeds it is likely to continue to grow in popularity.

Cheap cable broadband may also become more widely available as BT develops its fibre networks, in competition with the current kings of cable, Virgin Media.

The future is, of course, hard to predict as anyone who remembers similar reservations directed at car phones in the 1980s will attest.