3 will also allow customers to use their HSDPA handsets as modems to connect to their laptops.

    But it is not clear whether 3 will require customers to sign up for a voice tariff package in addition to the broadband service. The operator will announce full pricing details when it launches the service on September 3.

    "Many people say that 3G technology doesn't allow mass market pricing for mobile broadband," says Brown. "3's new tariffs show that with HSDPA, mass market pricing is possible, although it's not yet clear if attractive data pricing will be tied to costly voice subscriptions."

    At service launch, 3 will have deployed its HSDPA network to cover about 50 percent of the U.K. population, and by the end of the year, 85 percent of the population will be covered.