You may have noticed a recent rash of Mobile Phone Mast planning applications for "fill-in" masts in towns across the UK - mainly from Vodafone, but also from T-Mobile and O2.

The reason for this large number of planning applications to extend the mostly pointless 3G network is to cash in on the current gimmick for "Mobile Internet" using a USB "dongle" that plugs into laptops and PCs.

This latest marketing hype is the Mobile Phone Operators' last gasp strategy to re-invent the 3G network (originally designed for video calls) for web access. This has become possible by adding "HSPA" support for data packets on top of the 3G network.

As with all 3G uses so far the hype far outstrips the usefulness of the "Mobile Internet" and its "dongle". It is just another gadget aimed at office executives whose own access to websites such as FaceBook (and worse!) is blocked by their employers.

To try and exploit and expand on this lucrative niche market the Mobile Phone Operators are marketing the "dongles" and "Mobile Internet" as a rival to BT's fixed-line and Virgin Media's cable-based broadband. By persuading office workers to use their "dongles" in their home PCs and laptops the aim is to replace cable and ADSL broadband with the "Mobile Internet" instead. At a theoretical maximum speed of 14.4Mbs and a real-world maximum speed of 7.2Mbs "Mobile Internet" is actually slower than fixed-line or cable internet - even where 3G coverage is at its best (i.e. where there are more masts). It's like "WAP" all over again.

This strategy is a big lose-lose situation for the UK as a whole in these difficult times.

Firstly, we get more Mobile Phone Masts in dense residential areas with all the extremely serious health issues that they bring with them. 

Secondly, if the UK is ever to keep up with other industrialised nations with faster and better optical cable internet connections for HD TV on demand we need more money invested in high speed cable networks - NOT more wireless networks. If BT and Virgin Media lose customers to the Mobile Phone Operators there will be less money available for investment in next-generation cable.[e.g. Virgin Media now off 50 Mbs in some areas - 3 to 6 times faster than "Mobile Internet" ]

Thirdly, if the Mobile Phone Operators succeed in making "Mobile Internet" hugely popular you can expect no escape from 3G signals - or Mobile Phone Masts - anywhere. The extra "Electrosmog" and the extra electrical power demands from all the extra Mobile Phone Masts will add to global warming and pollution within the environment.

If you don't want another set of Mobile Phone Masts put up near to your home you need to persuade your friends and family to ditch their "dongles".