The take-up of mobile broadband boosted by Free Laptop tactics

The findings of a recent study have shown that free laptops are appealing to many customers although not everyone thinks so with some industry insiders questioning this method of attractive new customers.

The current tactic that is proving to be very popular with customers is to offer mobile broadband contracts along with a free bundled laptop according to the findings of a recent study.

The requirement for a typical contract is for a customer to sign up for mobile broadband on a two year contract with a monthly charge of around £25 – £35 and as a sweetener the laptop is then thrown into the deal.

In offering their customers the choice of a 3G embedded Asus or a Dell netbook, Orange and Vodafone have taken this tactic another stage further. A report that was recently produced by Disruptive Technologies, an analysis firm, has brought these tactics into question. The report claims that the number of mobile broadband subscribers that have been pulled in using this method will have reached just 30 percent by 2011.

This claim has, however, been refuted by a study recently carried out by a popular broadband comparison site. During November the sale of 1000 mobile broadband “free laptop” deals were monitored by the site, and in comparing the deals on dongles it found that they were outsold by a factor of three to two by the bundling of 3G embedded Asus Eee PC 901 and Dell Mini 9.

A spokesperson for the broadband comparison site said “I think when people see a free laptop offer, they start thinking, do I need laptop, and will I need one in the future, even if they haven’t in the past. If they see £15, or £25 per month rather than £300 up front they start considering it. It’s like a mobile phone contract, and people are now used to paying off their hardware through a contract.”