Free laptop broadband deals soar in popularity ahead of Christmas

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 21-Oct-08, 09:00

LONDON - Mobile broadband packages offering a free laptop are becoming increasingly popular with consumers and are set to be one of the big Christmas gift ideas for cash strapped consumers.

The broadband and free laptop deals accounted for just 4% of total mobile broadband sales on Top 10 Broadband in July, but now account for over 27% of sales on the site and look set to overtake stand-alone mobile broadband sales by the end of the year.

Users can get a free laptop when they sign up to mobile broadband packages with providers such as 3, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange.

Jessica McArdle, a spokesperson for Top 10 Broadband, said: "With broadband and free laptop deals starting at £25 a month, laptops have never been so affordable or attractive to a British public looking to curb their spending in the run up to credit crunch Christmas."

Customers signing up to these packages are given a USB modem stick or "dongle" and a laptop. By plugging the dongle into their laptop, users can connect to the internet on-the-go.

Mobile phone operator 3 is currently offering the HP550, HP2133 and HPDV 6910 laptops with mobile broadband starting at £30 a month with 5 or 15Gb download allowance included.

Resellers such as Phones 4U and The Carphone Warehouse are also meeting demand with a range of Acer, Toshiba and Sony laptop-broadband deals from just £25 a month.

As consumers look around for cheap deals this Christmas period retail analysts expect free laptops to be near the top of many shopping lists.

A Phones 4U spokesperson, said: "Since launching laptop-broadband deals on Phones4u.co.uk, we have seen significant sales growth month-on-month and predict that laptop-broadband deals will be top-sellers this Christmas."