Mobile broadband provider Orange has given names to its three major mobile broadband price plans in order to bring them in line with the animal-inspired brands of its mobile phone tariffs.

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.”

Wireless broadband prices are set to drop even further after announcements by both Orange and O2 that they will be reducing the cost of several mobile broadband tariffs in both the pay monthly and pay as you go ranges.

O2 is now going to offer new customers the chance to sign up to a 24 month mobile broadband contract that comes with a 3GB data allowance each month for just £10 for the first 4 months. This deal will also included unlimited access to a huge network of Wi-Fi hotspots around the UK, which means that the data allowance will not be constraining customers of this service.

If you are looking for a mobile broadband deal that does not require the lengthy commitment period of pay monthly contracts, then you will welcome the news that O2 has also cut the price of its standalone USB mobile broadband dongle by a third to just £20. Again unlimited Wi-Fi is included for all pay as you go customers and top-ups cost from as little as £2 a day for half a gigabyte of data allowance.

Orange is also taking to reducing the initial cost of its mobile broadband packages by giving new customers three months at half price. That means a 3GB monthly allowance on an 18 month contract is only £7.50 for the first three months and the 10GB tariff is just £12.50.

All of these contract deals from both O2 and Orange still include a free USB modem, so you really will be able to take advantage of the new lower wireless broadband prices. Simon Gerrard, Communications Manager at Simple Broadband added that “these are both limited time offers aimed at securing new customers before the end of January, so you will need to act fast if you want to take advantage of the savings on offer”.

It has been announced that Vodafone has joined Orange and O2 as a reseller of the universally adored iPhone. The UK is the only major country which has more than one network offering the iPhone and, while the exact terms are not known, this newly created competitive market must only be good news for the consumer.