T-Mobile Dongle Triumphs in the Broadband Genie Road Trip 2010 Awards

CAMBRIDGE, England, April 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- T-Mobile has triumphed in the most rigorous mobile broadband battle on the calendar, being named Dongle on the Move Winner in the Broadband Genie Road Trip 2010 Awards. Last year's victor, Virgin Media, took the overall runner-up award.

Mobile broadband is often advertised as a way to access the internet 'on the move', but most reviews tend to rely on static tests, or don't directly compare the products in real life conditions. The Broadband Genie road Trip sees dongles from the six leading mobile broadband suppliers (O2, Orange, 3, T-mobile, Virgin Media and Vodafone) taken out of their safety zone, simultaneously fighting it out throughout a two-day 350-mile rail trip.

Ralf Pearson, senior propositions manager for mobile broadband at T-Mobile, said: "We're delighted that T-Mobile has been crowned overall winner of the Broadband Genie Road Test 2010.

"This is a thorough examination of relative mobile broadband capabilities, so for T-Mobile to come top is testament to the strength of the mobile broadband services we offer our customers. This really shows that when customers use the service for browsing on the move that they can get a great experience that complements their home broadband.

"With our half-price stick offer, twinned with our flexible pay-per-day service, available in April we're hoping that more people can experience for themselves the benefit of having a personal broadband connection that stays with them wherever they go."

Genie staff performed a variety of tests throughout the trip. As well as running Broadband Genie speed tests, looking at both upload and download results, common tasks such as downloading BBC podcasts and streaming audio and video via YouTube and Spotify were also measured.

Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling said: "Getting mobile broadband to work well on the move presents some real problems for providers, especially in more rural areas, but as we work towards establishing a universal minimum standard for UK broadband, these challenges need to be met.

"T-Mobile should be congratulated on the improvements it has made, with some especially noteworthy speed test results of more than 3Mb on the move. However, we hope that by next year's Road Trip the others will have not only reached these speeds, but significantly surpassed them. Most of the ISPs showed no major progress from last year's tests, despite several putting up their 'up to' speed claims."

    Dongle on the Move 2010 winner - T-Mobile; runner up - Virgin Media

    Sub-categories

    Road Trip Downloader 2010 winner: T-Mobile; runner up: Virgin Media
    Road Trip Uploader 2010 winner: T-Mobile; runner up: 3
    Road Trip's Most Stable 2010 winner: Vodafone; runner up: Orange
    Road Trip Coverage 2010 joint winners: T-Mobile & Virgin Media
    Dongle Software 2010 winner: Vodafone; runner up: T-Mobile


    2010 links
    Winners page, with award art:
    http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/blog/20100324-mobile-broadband-genie-road-trip-winners

Overall analysis can be found at:

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/blog/20100319-mobile-broadband-genie-road-trip-overall-analysis

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Broadband Genie is the UK's leading independent broadband and mobile broadband comparison website, providing consumers with an unbiased source of information on broadband prices and contracts and allowing them to compare broadband providers in an independent environment. Broadband Genie was launched in March 2004 as the first dedicated consumer comparison site for broadband, while Mobile Broadband Genie became the first independent mobile broadband comparison site in October 2007. The two sites have now been merged, creating one of the most respected comparison sites online, and regularly being feature in the national press. http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk

2. Links to the 2009 awards

2009 data for reference:

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/articles/mobile-broadband-genie-road-trip-2009-overall-analysis

(Due to the length of these URLs, it may be necessary to copy and paste the hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

Information by provider for 2009:

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/blog/road-trip

3. All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling at Broadband Genie:t +44(0)844-415 5531 / f +44(0)871-6618553 / m +44(0)7908-327303 / [email protected]

SOURCE Broadbandgenie.co.uk