All of the UK operators proudly announce the details of their services as having excellent connection speeds. The problem is that what is announced and what is true are often different things.

A new set of regulations are being planned and developed that will ensure that consumers receive the true information about their services when they purchase them. These new regulations are arriving after a record year for UK mobile broadband. Sales of the USB modems in 2008 exceeded a million. This was helped with more variety, better coverage and lower prices. The problem that has arrived is that some people are disappointed when the true speeds available are not as expected.

The new standards are arriving at a key time for the UK industry. This method of accessing the Internet is going to be involved in the plans set out by Lord Carter the communications minister. These will form part of his “Digital Britain” initiative. It is expected that he will propose the mobile Internet services are used to help provide Internet access for everyone in the UK.

Ofcom has discovered that it is relatively common for the advertised speeds to not live up to their claims. This is the case from both fixed line and wireless speeds. Many fixed line customers have logged complaints with Ofcom which has pushed them to look at regulating the industry. This has resulted in the providers developing a set of standards that they will work on. This is now active and will include such things as providing customers with more realistic speeds that they can expect to receive. This looks set to be echoed by the best mobile broadband providers developing a similar set of standards. They would prefer to pre-empt any regulation. The key elements of standards will cover how to improve performance. It is not expected that they will offer suggestions of connection speed. This is because it can vary of location but also how many consumers are connected at the time.