Consumers around the country are constantly hunting for the cheapest mobile broadband in the UK. In many cases this involves using price comparison sites to size up the various deals. Prices will vary according to the volume of data a customer anticipates using every month and in most cases these limits must be strictly observed in order to avoid paying extra.

As you may expect, there is industry pressure to alter the way in which consumers pay for their mobile broadband usage as usage levels and user numbers continue to grow, placing ever greater pressure on the available bandwidth. Falling prices also mean that companies are having to handle a 400% rise in mobile broadband use, offset only marginally by a meagre 40% rise in real revenues.

News from a recent study by Camiant showed that consumers and the networks are in agreement about one thing: the structure of mobile broadband price plans is in need of a serious rethink. It is clear from the study that consumers could be faced with ever stricter data limit enforcement, resulting in significant penalties for exceeding their allowance and as such a different approach, such as connection management, would be preferable.

The survey also revealed that consumers across Europe are actually unsure as to the rules and restrictions of their existing mobile broadband price plans, with data caps confusing many and ignored by even more. As such, a price structure which restricts mobile broadband speeds during peak periods but has a relaxed approach to overall data allowance would be seen to be the best solution to everyone’s problems.

It was also revealed that consumers would encourage networks to offer unlimited usage for a single mobile broadband function, for example gaming or downloading, whilst retaining the data cap for other applications. It is clear that flexibility and customisation are going to be integral to delivering the cheapest mobile broadband in the UK in years to come.