Mobile broadband..

         "Mobile broadband" is a wireless carrier marketing term for Internet access. Bit rates of broadband support voice and video as well as other data access. Devices that provide mobile broadband to mobile computers include: PC cards also known as PC data card or Connect cards, USB modems, USB sticks often called "dongles", and portable devices with built-in support for mobile broadband (like notebooks, netbooks and Mobile Internet Devices). Notebooks with built-in mobile broadband modules are offered by many laptop manufacturers.
  In 2002, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) established a Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) working group. They developed the IEEE 802.20 standard in 2008, with amendments in 2010. Another working group, IEEE 802.16, produced standards adopted in products using the WiMAX trademark.
  The global Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of standards - which includes GSM, EDGE, WCDMA, HSPA and LTE – is the most widespread way to deliver mobile broadband. 3GPP standards are serving about 90 percent of the world’s mobile subscribers.

After mobile broadband subscribers hit 500 million in 2010, at the end of 2011 Ericsson predicted it will be doubled to a billion. 
   In the United Kingdom, a steering group known as Digital Britain was set up, with the aim of promoting digital telecommunications in October 2008. The conclusion of the steering group was a recommendation that the government took up, namely to have 100% broadband coverage, with a minimum speed of 2Mbps in the United Kingdom by the year 2012. Mobile "broadband" using 3G is now not expected to be able to ensure 2Mbit/s broadband coverage to the more remote areas of the UK as coverage is too poor and contention too high. Another suggestion is Ka Satellite for Rural areas, which may be very cheap by the end of 2010 if Eutelsat's KA-SAT is successfully launched. There is also a smaller Ka Sat in 2010 from Avanti. However Satellite latency is about 790ms.

Generations

Second generation (2G) from 1991: first mobile data services GSM CSD (2G): 9.6 kbit/s GSM GPRS (2.5G): 56 to 115 kbit/s GSM EDGE (2.75G): up to 237 kbit/s

Third generation (3G)  from  2001: UMTS W-CDMA: 0.4 Mbit/s down and up UMTS HSPA: 14.4 Mbit/s down; 5.8 Mbit/s up UMTS TDD: 16 Mbit/s down and up CDMA2000 1xRTT: 0.3 Mbit/s down; 0.15 Mbit/s up CDMA2000 EV-DO: 2.5 to 4.9 Mbit/s down; 0.15 to 1.8 up GSM EDGE-Evolution: 1.6 Mbit/s down; 0.5 Mbit/s up

Fourth generation (4G) from 2006: HSPA+: 21 to 672 Mbit/s down; 5.8 to 168 Mbit/s up Mobile WiMAX (802.16): 37 to 365 Mbit/s down; 17 to 376 Mbit/s up LTE: 100 to 300 Mbit/s down; 50 to 75 Mbit/s up LTE-Advanced: 100 Mbit/s moving at higher speeds to 1 Gbit/s not moving or moving at low speeds MBWA: (802.20): 80 Mbit/s