The iPad is noteworthy because it will be available with an on-board mobile broadband modem for completely wireless internet access wherever you roam. The base model will lack the 3G feature, sticking with a Wi-Fi connection, but those who spend a little more will have a travel companion that should meet just about any portable internet needs.

The iPad is going to be supported by most of the UK’s mobile broadband providers, with O2, Orange and Vodafone announcing price plans. However, 3 has stepped into the fray with its own wireless broadband prices which undercut most of its rivals and could make it the most desirable network partner for iPad owners here in the UK come Friday.

For £15 a month 3 will give you a data allowance of 10GB, which compares favourably to similarly priced deals from its rivals that only include 5GB or even 3GB of data allowance. 3 has said that it will not be tying its customers into any fixed term contracts with the iPad price plans, as its mobile broadband deals will operate on a rolling 30 day contract which you can opt out of at any time.

People looking for a mobile broadband package to suit their intermittent iPad roaming needs might consider Orange or O2’s daily deals, which will cost you £2 for any day on which you choose to use your mobile broadband connection on your iPad, with data limits of 200MB and 500MB respectively. It should be interesting to see how the iPad’s arrival impacts upon the mobile broadband market and wireless broadband prices.

Since the survey is conducted by O2 and presumably targeted fairly broadband-aware citizens, this result may seem less surprising. However, the 41 per cent of respondents that said they were daily impacted by a sluggish broadband connection was ahead of the other frequent frustrations by a margin that is impossible to ignore.

Only 14 per cent of people said that extended waiting periods before treatment by the NHS were a daily irritant, which is in stark contrast to the 36 per cent of people who said that unhelpful or rude customer service representatives would adversely affect them in daily life.

O2 conducted the survey of over 2000 people at the beginning of the month and it is publishing the findings in order to promote a new advertising campaign that identifies familiar obstacles and pitfalls that broadband users may encounter with their internet service providers (ISPs); pitfalls which O2 claims to avoid.

O2’s Felix Geyr said that the arrival of the new coalition government and the results of the survey show that ISPs will need to alter their current policies and address current inadequacies in order to win the support and respect of the public.

73 per cent of the respondents said that a quick fix for these issues in the first few months of the new government would be desirable. However, most experts agree that there are more pressing issues facing the coalition than getting cheap cable broadband out into every home and forcing ISPs to shape up their customer service departments.

The new money will go towards providing two thirds of the UK with superfast broadband access by the end of 2015.

In the past BT has said that it hopes to be able to get fibre optic broadband rolled out for 40 per cent of the UK in time for 2012 and the Olympic Games in London. Its minimum download speed target for these connections was set at 40Mbps, which is currently the maximum which its tiny number of fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) customers can achieve.

Before 2010 ends BT will bring the first four million customers the opportunity to access its next generation high speed broadband network and with the additional funds it will be able to extend the reach of its fibre optic cabling to even more households.

BT recently announced that its financial performance was finally on the up, with profits of £1 billion recently posted. This was after serious losses in the previous year, which resulted in job losses, cost cutting and general streamlining of its entire business.

The luckiest BT broadband customers will have full fibre coverage delivered right into their homes, with download speeds of 100Mbps possible. The majority will be FTTC customers, but this is still a technology which vastly outpaces current ADSL connections.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard said “The current range of BT broadband deals are about to get a lot more interesting as it commits to this large investment into next-generation technology. Experts agree that fibre optic broadband is the only service which can continue to further the possibility of online entertainment and information and so BT’s funding of this will be welcomed.”

Until the end of May, customers will be able to sign up with O2 and receive a USB dongle to help them get online using O2’s mobile broadband networks for half of its original price.

The USB dongle was originally £19.99, but from now until May 31st the dongle is just £9.99, giving consumers even more incentive to pick up a mobile broadband package and see how it can work for them, without committing to an extended contractual period.

O2 has extended its pay monthly mobile broadband deals by adding a new laptop computer to its line up of incentives. The Asus UL30A straddles the line between netbook and notebook, with powerful hardware combined with light weight portability.

There is an up-front charge to pay for this cutting edge computer, but for your money you get 3GB of RAM, Windows 7, a large 320GB hard drive and of course O2’s award-winning mobile broadband service. Best of all, this laptop has an integrated mobile broadband modem, so there is no need to cover the cost of a separate USB dongle, or to plug in such a device in order to get online.

O2 is looking to compete directly with Orange mobile broadband free laptop deals and every major mobile broadband provider seems to be constantly refreshing their offers in order to win new customers in a highly competitive marketplace.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard commented “Pay as you go mobile broadband from O2 could be a great way to try out the service, especially as the new dongle offer makes signing up a low risk.”

Everything Everywhere will make an appearance in promotional material from both of the providers and it is believed that T-Mobile will begin to offer home and business customers the chance to sign up to fixed line broadband services. This is because it can now benefit from Orange’s network and expertise in a market of which it has little direct knowledge.

Coalitions seem to be flavour of the week and Everything Everywhere will result in other new services which may be of interest to business broadband users, including the creation of a far wider network of Wi-Fi hotspots in key areas. This would allow T-Mobile and Orange business connections to compete with BT business broadband packages, offering greater coverage whenever people need to get online when away from the office.

The merger gives T-Mobile and Orange the largest mobile broadband network in the UK, with more masts and more inclusive accessibility than any other firm. Everything Everywhere will be opening 100 new retail stores to complement the 700 or so existing locations, with the intention of educating potential customers as to the latest broadband and mobile products.

Orange, O2 and Vodafone have offered fixed line broadband to customers in the past, but now T-Mobile will be able to join in, although it looks as though it could be many months before the first broadband packages appear.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard said “There were concerns that the Orange and T-Mobile merger would give them an unfair advantage, but the winner here will be the customer, because more competition in the broadband market means lower prices and better service.”

The three new plans have been dubbed Panther, Dolphin and Raccoon, with the intention being that mobile phone customers currently on Orange will have a better idea as to what each package will offer and the wireless broadband prices will echo the mobile tariffs after which they are named.

The cheapest of these new deals is Raccoon, which will cost you £5 a month for a fixed 18 month minimum contract. For your money you will have a 500MB data allowance, which is adequate for modest surfing needs and should be suitable for anyone who requires only sporadic internet access.

The mid-range Panther mobile broadband tariff is also tied to an 18 month minimum contract and it gives you 10GB of data allowance per month for £25 each month. This is for heavier users who might need to send and receive lots of emails, download files and even stream video.

The most comprehensive new tariff from Orange is called Dolphin and with it comes an unlimited data allowance for £35 each month. As with all unlimited plans, there is a fair use policy to adhere to, which ultimately means that you will have over 20GB of data each month and for all intents and purposes is more than enough to meet the needs of the heaviest of single users.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard said “Orange has always been a leader when it comes to wireless broadband prices and mobile broadband innovation and it is now renaming its key tariffs to make the choice even easier. Users who have enjoyed its mobile phone packages should know roughly what to expect and Orange’s unrivalled 3G coverage levels are also an important asset to consider.”

As with most of O2’s deals, if you are an existing O2 mobile customer you can unlock even more savings potential, as the Standard broadband bundle, which has inclusive evening and weekend calls to UK landline numbers, is now £17 monthly.

It is estimated that existing O2 mobile customers will save about £50 over the first three months of the free service, whilst non-O2 mobile customers will save even more, although after the initial period the price will be higher if you lack an O2 mobile contract.

O2’s broadband deals have a significant advantage over BT broadband options, because the line rental for O2 home phone customers is £9.50, which is over £2 cheaper than BT offers.

O2’s anytime home phone deal is slightly more expensive, but it does let you make unlimited free calls at any time of the day or night to premium rate numbers beginning in 0845 or 0870.

O2’s Sally Cowdry said that her firm is putting a lot of effort into this new home broadband and phone package in order to cement its position as one of the UK’s best value and most comprehensive providers.

O2 is keen to emphasise the fact that it is attempting to make its pricing as transparent as possible and that combining multiple services into one monthly package is a great way in which to save money.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard added “O2 is really upping its game in the home broadband market, providing consumers with many compelling reasons to choose carefully when looking to switch broadband providers.”

In a study carried out by industry regulator Ofcom, O2 staff were far more likely to give prospective business broadband clients information about the download and upload speeds that the provider could realistically offer on a given line without being prompted by the interested party.

O2 automatically gives out its predictions regarding connection speed in 54 per cent of calls, which is significantly more often than its major rivals in the business broadband market.

The least transparent provider was found to be BT, which would only let customers know as to the real speeds on offer, without being asked, in about 28 per cent of cases. Sky did not fare much better, giving accurate predictions as to download and upload speeds in 39 per cent of sales situations.

The number of calls in which firms confirmed that the speeds given were only estimates came to 40 per cent and in 31 per cent of calls, the customer was informed of other potential hurdles which could significantly reduce the connection speed in real terms.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said that the organisation was generally pleased with the figures, which show a rise in the number of callers who are being given specific, accurate and honest information as to the speed and quality of broadband service that a provider can offer before they commit to a contract. However, the organisation also believes that more can be done in this area.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard commented: “O2 is proving itself to be one of the most trustworthy broadband providers in the UK, for both home and business users, setting the bar for other providers.”

The Financial Mail Small Businesses Panel has shown that there is growing concern amongst small and medium sized UK businesses that broadband is the only means by which they can expand and compete directly with their established rivals.

Business owners will be scrutinising the various manifestos presented by the parties that could take power after May 6th in order to see which offers the best chance of a brighter future for the UK’s business broadband expansion.

There is concern within the business community that without the universal availability of high speed broadband, smaller firms will be unable to maximise their potential, costing the economy billions of pounds.

Business expert Tom Wenham said that politicians would need to look to the needs of small businesses, particularly those located in isolated areas with little or no broadband coverage. Partnerships between businesses and access to services by consumers can only move forward if broadband is not restricted only to densely populated areas.

Rutland Telecom’s David Lewis told The Mail on Sunday that despite claims to the contrary there is actually a significant demand for high speed broadband in rural areas to make the roll out of networks economically viable.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard added “Business users will have to think carefully about where they lend their political support, as each party has different ideas as to how to get BT business broadband packages available to all.”

The marketing of mobile broadband can often obscure how the different providers will be able to perform in the hands of the consumer and so the study took six of the UK’s largest mobile broadband providers on the road to see how well they stack up.

The journey took the Broadband Genie team from Cambridge to Bournemouth by rail and during the trip a variety of data-intensive tasks were carried out using different mobile broadband services.

It was discovered that, in general, there was no single provider that performed notably below the basic expectations of the testers and tasks such as downloading audio tracks and streaming content from the internet were by and large achievable.

Last year during the same study it was discovered that Vodafone was the outright winner, as its mobile broadband service was able to triumph in all of the tests that were thrown at it. This year things were not so good for any one provider, as each failed in at least one category.

The highest overall achiever this year was T-Mobile, whose mobile broadband service hit a maximum download speed of 4.8Mbps after it was clocked downloading a 13MB file in only 22 seconds.

The three slowest mobile broadband providers were Virgin Media, O2 and Orange, with 3 and Vodafone coming closer to matching T-Mobiles winning speeds.

In the last 12 months every major mobile broadband provider has upgraded their free USB dongles, except for O2, which is still using last year’s device.

Simon Gerrard, Simple Broadband’s Communication Manager commented “With wireless broadband prices falling, it is good to see mobile broadband providers keeping up on the technology front.”