Wireless broadband

Mobile wireless broadband

Called 

mobile broadband

, wireless broadband technologies 

include services from 

mobile phone

 service providers such as 

Verizon

, 

Sprint

, and 

AT&T Mobility

, which allow a more 

mobile version of Internet access. Consumers can purchase a 

PC card

, 

laptop card

, or 

USB

 equipment to connect their PC or 

laptop to the Internet via 

cell phone towers

. This type of 

connection would be stable in almost any area that could also 

receive a strong cell phone connection. These connections can 

cost more for portable convenience as well as having speed 

limitations in all but urban environments. 

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On

 June 2, 2010

, after months of discussion, AT&T became the first 

wireless Internet provider in the USA to announce plans to charge 

according to usage. As the only iPhone service in the United States, 

AT&T experienced the problem of heavy Internet use more than other 

providers. About 3 percent of AT&T smart phone customers account for 

40 percent of the technology's use. 98 percent of the company's customers 

use less than 

2 gigabytes (4000 page views, 10,000 emails or 200 minutes 

of streaming video)

, the limit under the $25 monthly plan, and 65 percent 

use less than 200 megabytes, the limit for the $15 plan. For each gigabyte 

in excess of the limit, customers would be charged $10 a month starting 

June 7, 2010, though existing customers would not be required to change 

from the $30 a month unlimited service plan. The new plan would 

become a requirement for those upgrading to the new iPhone technology 

later in the summer. 

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Licensing

A wireless connection can be either licensed or unlicensed. In 

the US, licensed connections use a private spectrum the user 

has secured rights to from the 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

. In other 

countries, spectrum is licensed from the country's national 

radio communications authority (such as the ACMA in 

Australia or Nigerian Communications Commission in Nigeria 

(NCC))

. Licensing is usually expensive and often reserved for 

large companies who wish to guarantee private access to 

spectrum for use in point to point communication. Because of 

this, most wireless ISP's use 

unlicensed spectrum

 which is 

publicly shared.

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