Wireless Broadband driving demand for laptops

Demand for laptops is expected to increase as the cost of wireless Internet access continues to go down.

So far we have seen the emergence of netbooks – small, mobile laptops made primarily for Internet surfing – create a subset in the market for cheap laptops that are as little as £200.

International Data Corporation (IDC) have predicted that 26 million units of netbooks will be sold worldwide in 2009. Some laptop models have had to drop their prices to £315 for high quality laptops to meet with consumer demands.

Nowadays people are just as interested in the prices of wireless Internet connection, which further entices people to buy laptops.

Earlier this year, telecom giant PLDT saw its wireless broadband service, SmartBro, increase its sales to over half a million due to the arrival of low-cost netbooks.

Another telecom firm, Rival Globe Telecom, also noted increase sales in notebooks will drive demand for their Globe Tattoo wireless Internet prepaid kid.

Both the telecom firms are marketing their wireless Internet services towards students, a primary target market for low-cost laptops.

Mari Litonjua, Globe’s broadband and land line group marketing manager, said that sales of computers and wireless broadband is constantly on the rise as students are depending on the Internet for their studies.

Litonjua explained that having both a netbook and a wireless connectivity is slowly becoming a necessity in people’s lives.

Vodafone Cuts The Cost Of Internet Use Abroad

Vodafone is offering bundled data packages for customers across Europe, cutting the cost of using the internet on your laptop abroad.

If you’re supposed to be taking a break from it all, for heaven’s sake just leave the thing at home but if you’ve really got work to do, here’s what you need to know direct from the horse’s mouth…

Vodafone say: “For the purposes of roaming, a day is classified as midnight to midnight UK time so customers need to be aware of their time zone. Outside Europe, customers will be charged £14.99 for each 25MB when accessing the internet via their mobile and £29.99 for 50MB through a laptop. Vodafone is currently the only UK operator to offer per day data roaming charging which when broken down equates to just 20p per MB in Europe. Later in the summer, customers will receive real time alerts as they approach the end of their data allowance.”

According to Vodafone, the users who choose to read only few emails and keep their usage below 1MB, will be charged on a per kb rate. Once a customer reaches 1MB the cost will be £4.99, but the next 24MB are free. Any further internet usage will be charged at £4.99 for each 25MB.

On June 1, Vodafone UK abolished roaming charges for Vodafone passport customers in 35 countries across Europe. Until August 31st, the users can call, send text and picture messages from overseas for the same prices as they would in the UK.