Dongles away as mobile internet access soars

More than 1m Britons will be using mobile phone networks to connect to the internet using their laptops by Christmas, 3 UK predicted.

Carphone Warehouse has reported booming sales of dongles
 
The mobile phone operator also revealed that data traffic on its third generation (3G) network has increased 14-fold in the five months since it launched a mobile broadband offering.

The figures are evidence of the threat to fixed-line operators such as BT by Britain's mobile networks Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and 3 UK.

Carphone Warehouse has reported booming sales of "dongles", modems that enable wireless access to the internet from a laptop.