Service Providers Could Subsidize Ultra-portable Notebooks

[btarunr]

A lot of us have high-end mobile phones which have high MSRP subsidized to a great deal of its original price by service providers (such as AT&T, Vodafone, etc.) after signing a time-bound contract for using their serivice. Some variants of ASUS Eee PC and other competing brands are equipped with 3G High Speed Down/Uplink Packet Access (HSDPA) connectivity, which allows service providers to provide internet connectivity among other features. This means a good venture for them since they could sign you on a service contract and sell you these ultra-portable notebooks at subsidized prices a-là mobile phones. ECS is already in the process of signing partnerships with several service providers in Europe.

With these notebooks falling in the same price-band as mid-high end mobile phones, PDAs, etc., internet connectivity, PC-style, is more affordable than ever before.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[panchoman]

at&t and all already sell wireless cards to go into regular notebooks that use the 3g network.. i dont see why they wouldn't do this.

 

[erocker]

Spell check! "porable"

 

[btarunr]

Spell check! "porable"

I need some sleep.....alone.

 

[panchoman]

sleep.....alone.

thanks for the laugh man... so none of dem indian babes treating ya to an all night fun fest tonight eh?

 

[WarEagleAU]

Yeah, this is something for them to think about. Im sure it will catch on over here. Youll still need a phone but now they get you two ways. One for Cell Phone and one for Mobile Internet with a pc. They pretty much give you a free 3g Laptop card after a $50-$100 MIR.

 

[Triprift]

The only prob ive seen with the providers here in oz is that hsdlpa is prohibitvly expensive compared to regular broadband. Until prices improve it will only really be for bussiness.