3 have recently started to advertise a home broadband device called the WebCube. It is basically a 3G HSPA+ modem in a box that emits WiFi to provide home broadband access using the 3 UK mobile network. A mains powerd version of the MiFi device really.

It's £15 a month for 15GB of data per month (24 month contract - no upfront cost) and it's being marketed as a no phone line no hassle broadband solution.

3 WebCube Information: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devi.../White?id=1298

Seems like a nice solution for folks who dont want a fixed line commitment but it could have major implications for mobile customers. 3 have already given notice they will have capacity issues for data with their current bandwidth by the end of 2012, so could a few WebCube users in your street viewing YouTube, Netflix and the BBC iPlayer make your smartphone experience much less useable?

I have grave reservations about a mobile network pitching directly to attract fixed line broadband customers due to the volumes of data that many now consume using video streaming etc.

The WebCube seems to only be available in selected areas presently, (HSPA+ 21Mbs capable sites maybe?) and a quick check of postcodes in my city and surrounding area produced no avilability.

What is the opinion re this development? Good for mobile users or a gamble that could backfire if mobile contract customers spending to use iPhones etc can't access their services due to the competition from home based network users with WebCubes?

It is a slight worry that it could harm the network speeds.

However let's face it, this is the future.

it'll be fine for new and existing customers for the time being. Its only when three start to get a load more customers that it'll start harming the customers. I think three will have to introduce data caps then. Or at the very least they'll make 4g unlimited only and cap 3g.

This is a good marketing ploy from three because a number of customers who want bb will probably use over 15gb and end up paying a lot to three after going over the allowance. Like I said, if too many customers join and use a lot of data then three will have to do something.

Ayce was a huge gamble by three, and its paid off so far. They have over 7.3m customers as of q4 2011and are able to provide a good network for their customers. (At the expense of the cs dept). But like I said, they're gamble has worked so far, they've invested a huge amount in mbnl and that has let them offer ayce without the network coming to a standstill. There isn't much congestion at the masts atm but if the customer base keeps growing and people abuse ayce I can see three having problems. But right now its the best 3g network out there.

And tbh, I don't think the wifi cube will do very well. I've heard opening sales have been poor.

But hold on...... current HSPA+ at 21Mbs has an allowance factor of 1GB per user per month. LTE at 80Mbs has an average user allowance limit of 3GB a month.

So if 3 or 4 folks in your street have a WebCube and use 15GB a month each how much does that leave for the iPhone or other smartphone users in the same cell site area?

Is a network selling mobile boradband as an alternative to fixed line a good gamble for anyone who wants to use a smartphone at home?

I get you but the thing is that technically the web cube has been around for ages in the form of a mifi and USB dongle. Three have been selling them with 15gb packages for a while now, and trust me they sell a lot. But like I said, despite all of this data usage the network has remained very very stable. Sure a few masts get congested every now and then but on the whole there have been no capicity problems. Plus three have a huge backhaul So at the moment the network can handle it.

Like I said above, its only when three have a drastic increase in customers and data usage that I can see the network struggle. Atm its a very solid network. The best in the UK for speed.

I think ayce for smart phones was a good gamble. Not mobile broadband though, I don't think any MOBILE Network should do it tbh, especially when data limits are high. But like I said, it hasn't effected the network yet.

But the MiFi and dongles are not pitched to compete directly with fixed line broadband whereas the WebCube is.

The difference is that folks buying a dongle or MiFi device will probably use it for browsing or e-mails etc. The WebCube is a direct attempt to replace fixed line and will attract users who will do lots of streaming of video, downloading of large files and perhaps on-line gaming.

Are 3 deliberately marketing products that produce network congestion now to support their argument that they should be given preferential consideration re the 850/2600Mhz licence auction later this year?

Is that the agenda? And if so is it at the cost of customer satisfaction in the short term?

Its hard to say why they are releasing this. The auction could be one of the reasons for sure. Every network will want to get the biggest chunk of spectrum they can though. But according to data i've seen, Data is being used on three way more than other networks, people with mifi and dongles are especially using a lot. So like i said, it won't make a difference at all unless a huge amount of new customers purchase these and start using them.

Three carry over 40% of all data traffic in the uk and they can do that without any customers suffering. So like i said, Three can handle it as long as it doesn't get too out of hand with additional customers/excessive data usage. Its a huge gamble just like ayce, but i think ayce was a good gamble, its too early to say anything about the web cube.

They more they sell the more they make the more little cells they can put on lamp posts, you don't need a of spectrum as spectrum can be re-used. You just make the cell spacing smaller, now with the combined money from Orange, T-mobile and 3 all going into MBNL and more and more sites being added I don't see it as being a problem. More localised lower powered cell sites is the key.

Exactly, the orange sites will be coshared with 3 in the future and this will help with congestion a lot!

Review:

http://www.slashgear.com/three-web-c...view-10213013/

Really? How will the decommissioning of 1000s of Orange sites and co-locating them on existing MBNL masts do that? One of the major benefits of the Orange/T-Mobile merger is cost cutting so for EE it will be about savings from shared resources more than anything else. MBNL will no doubt do exactly as they have previously when combining 3 and T-Mobile's sites and do the best they can to suit the needs of all parties involved by compromise. Some Orange users may loose out as a result but EE will have to be prepared to sacrifice a limited number of users to reap the benefits of a full RAN share just as 3 and T-Mobile already have.

Wavejock.. old info they actually kept the Orange sites.

Thay don't plan to keep all of the Orange sites though according to MBNL's website. They will keep a 'large number' was what was stated so I expect some rationalisation in due course.

They will keep them all.

It is unlikely that this device will degrade the service of 3 much. It's not going to sell as much as say smart phones or tablets which are the biggest strain on the network currently.

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/99...with_MBNL.aspx - claims that Orange's integration into MBNL will result is a lot fewer orange sites by 2013.

I still wouldn't fancy investing in an £800 smartphone contract if I thought it might have to compete with home broadband users in the same street using 3G as their primary access to the Internet. There are already dongles and tablets for sure but a mains powered MiFi device if sold in numbers will greatley increase congestion in built up areas.

Dude.. there are thousands of data hungry phones and tablets sold every day competing for the network.

This will sell a couple of thousand this year, hardly going to crash the network. It's a handy device but it's target audience is limited. Students in August might be the biggest customers..

As for the article.. once again published in 2010. Things have changed!

the lord Lucian is correct here. Somehow I get the feeling wavejock doesn't like three...?

I am a stakeholder again as I have just invested in a new 3 Dongle with HSPA+ so I am hoping it will perform and not be hampered by the likes of the WebCube when i need to use it.

As for 3 selling a couple of thousand of these? Highly unlikely they would bother to import such a low number. My guess is they would want to shift between 50 & 100 thousand at least over a year and those numbers will affect other users of the service as usage patterns will probably be similar to fixed line broadband and that is the concern factor really.

Mate you can trace his anti- 3 posts back as far as 2004 here, there's been thousands of them. Something like 1/8 of all his posts are in some way negative about Three, here's 1 from 8 YEARS AGO!

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...41&postcount=9

The thing is just a bloody HSPA+ modem, just like all the dongles they currently sell and with the same allowances so it's just an opportunity for him to start a negative Three thread on a topic which is actually quite positive.

It's a device that is really quite cool and seems to have good specs, but he'll find a negative if it's anything to do with Three.

He's now going on about a reduction in Orange cells, and quoting old articles, I think Orange later said they weren't decomming as many sites as they initially said they were and also of course you can consolidate, when you have 3 networks all joining forces a lot of the rural cells don't need to be duplicated !!!!

However I'm not going to spend my entire evening being asked for facts, figures, PDF's, old articles to back up every little point so wave I won't be replying to one of your 20 times multi quoted posts if that's ok, or one of the multiple "I'm still waiting for an answer on x" follow-ups. We know your agenda so you know I won't be biting.

The problem with this way of thinking is that the people who would actually think that a "WebCube" (or a Mi-Fi/Dongle) is a viable alternative to a fixed line broadband connection are extremely unlikely to actually place any serious demand on the network.

15GB per month for your sole, home internet connection isn't very much at all.

That's only an average of 20MB per hour!

Assuming you got a speed of 2mbps down (in reality you'd probably get more), then you'd download 20MB in less than 2 minutes.

To say that such use (even on a large scale) could be a problem is simply wrong.

Fixed line ISPs are selling people 40GB packages as "light use" - what does that make 15GB?

Unfortunately a 21Mbs HSPA+ site delivers about half of that spped in reality and suppliers like Ericsson who build the networks have produced estimates that capacity is about 1GB per user per month. Of course not all users will consume that much but then again others will consume far more. BT's standard Total Broadband has a 10GB per month allowance on a fixed line!

I live in a street that has no cable and an increasing number of people are now questioning why they should pay line rental charges when they can get phone calls on a mobile and use mobile boradband. Perfectly OK for the occasional user I'm sure but when a mobile operator targets home users with a 'no phone line, no problem' pitch its easy to see how folks could be attracted to the simplicity of buying a box that plugs into the mains and gives them all their broadband needs. The problem nowadays is the type of services folks use at home including lots of video streaming via Netflix, Love Film, YouTube, iPlayer and downloads of large movie files. A few of these type of users in a street would I am sure affect the performance of any mobile network for those browing on smartphones.

it remains to be seen how this new development affcets existing customers. It's interesting to note that almost all of the other mobile networks have chosen to offer additional coverage on other frequency ranges, Wi-Fi hotspot access and the like to preserve as much of their bandwidth on UMTS as possible. Perhaps because the others have many more customers? Or are they being cautious to maintain quality of service for the customers they have?

Lastly off-topic here but there seems to be some differences of opinion about the integration of Orange's transmission sites into MBNL. Some say they wont decommission any at all, others say they will not decommission as many as they initially said. Can't be both, and I can't imagine why a RAN that accommodate 4 separate networks would not in time co-locate and integrate Orange's masts where it's feasable.

If you're doing those things, not even 15GB is going to be enough.

I think you're looking for a problem when there simply isn't going to be one.

I hope you are right but having worked for many years in retail and consumer electronics I suspect my fears to be well founded. Customers will buy the product as it's 50% more data allowance for £15/month compared to BT's Total Broadband basic package thinking they can do the same things with it. (its also cheaper than BT's Total Broadband if you consider the line rental charge and fixed line broadband cost at least £24/month).

As said, it'll only take a small number of similtainious users locally to cause congestion and degrade the user experience for smartphone customers but I guess we shall have to wait and see when these devices start to appear in peoples homes.

I think smart phones are a bigger threat to mobile networks and i don't see the networks crapping themselves every time a new Samsung, iPhone or iPad goes on sale.. which sell in their millions so i think we'll be ok.

I also come from a Electronics & Retail background.

Point accepted but the question is 'Will a move to target fixed line broadband customers with mobile data help or hinder all of those smartphone customers'? I don't think if it catches on it will be immaterial to smartphone users in neighbourhoods that have several Webcube consumers.