Do you want the flexibility of a mobile broadband, but without the monthly contract? Then Vodafone might have the answer. Vodafone has just launched a brand new Top and Go Mobile Broadband offering a Top Up and Go USB Modem Stick (K3565 Modem Stick, 3.6 Mbps) that comes with a FREE first TopUp of £15 (1GB of data) for just £49 (you can get this for £39 with the promo here). With 1GB of data you could surf for 30 hours, send 650 emails then download 65 music tracks and 30 short video clips. Not bad!

But how does it competes with other networks? Lets see below.

Vs Three

- Vodafone includes the first £15 TopUp (1GB). Three don’t include any data

- Vodafone don’t offer any time limits on the expiry of data in the bundle. Three TopUps expire after 30 days and any remaining data is lost

Vs T-Mobile

- T-Mobile offers three expiry options – 1 day, 7 days or 30 days. Research indicates that most customers want to use their mobile broadband regularly, and don’t want only 1 or 7 days usage

- The T-Mobile ‘regular user’ offer expires after 30 days

- T-Mobile charge £30 for the 30 day or ‘regular user’ offer – £5 more than Vodafone

Vs O2

- Like T-Mobile, O2 offer 1 day, 7 day or 30 day options – which aren’t what customers want

- Like with T-Mobile and Three, O2’s ‘regular user’ offer expires after 30 days – Vodafone offer 1GB for £15 without a time restriction

Vs Orange

- Orange doesn’t offer prepay mobile broadband…

But O2 offer 1GB for £7.50? Isn’t that cheaper than Vodafone’s charge of £15? And doesn’t the modem cost less at £29.99?

All of O2’s offers expire after a certain number of days. Once your time is up, any data you left is gone. You can’t really compare prices – data a customer buys from Vodafone stays until they actually use it up!

300Mb per month 1GB per 6 weeks
Cost on Vodafone £15 after 3 months £30 after 3 months
Cost on O2 (7 day) £90 after 3 months £90 after 3 months
Cost on O2 (30 day) £45 after 3 months £45 after 3 months

[Vodafone]