4G is already available in a number of US cities and with it’s continued roll out expected to increase coverage further by the end of the year this could effect the way we access the internet. Rob Webber, a director of the company behind comparison sites Broadband Expert and Cell Phone Expert believe that 4G will have a positive impact on sales of mobile broadband plans with fixed line high speed internet providers potentially losing out.

Webber believes that access to the internet via cell phones plans and mobile broadband devices (for laptops), could take sales away from fixed high speed internet providers as consumers pay for just one means of access to the internet. Webber says that at present, “most people have a high speed home internet connection and see mobile broadband devices or smartphones as a secondary means of getting online whilst on the move. The 3G network, which supports most current mobile broadband access is limited in that speeds can not compete with those of fixed line services meaning that consumers use their fixed line service as their main means of connection and their cell phone or mobile broadband device to get online when on the move”.

The increased speed available via 4G (potentially up to 100Mbs), means that access to the internet on a laptop via a mobile broadband device could be faster than a fixed high speed internet line and could replace the need for consumers to subscribe to both services. However whilst mobile internet access on phones is reasonably priced Webber believes that the current pricing of mobile broadband devices and plans (for laptops) is holding back the growth of this technology. Compared to Europe mobile broadband plans are typically at least three times more expensive in the US. Webber says that whilst the US is one of the first countries to start rolling out a 4G network uptake of mobile broadband plans (as opposed to mobile internet access on a phone), is much slower than many other countries as the pricing is too high.