As has been revealed by Broadband Expert, a consumer research group, speeds of mobile broadband across Australia, on an average, are a mere 50% of the speeds that end up reaching homes.

To reach at the conclusion, the study looked at data collected through as many as 1724 broadband speed tests which were conducted nationwide from July to December 2009. The average speed of mobile broadband in the tests came out to be an average of 1.88Mbps, which is much less when compared to the average speed of 3.5Mbps offered by home broadband.

Vodafone emerged as the best performing wireless Internet Service Provider, clocking an average speed of 2.2Mbps.

"Mobile broadband is often used to browse Web sites and send e-mails when people don't have access to a fixed broadband connection. The average mobile broadband speeds currently being delivered are more than adequate for this type of use", said Broadband Expert Commercial Director Rob Webber, while stressing that despite the low speeds, the number of mobile broadband users is rapidly increasing.

Mr. Webber strongly believes that although mobile broadband would never be able to replace home broadband, it is being used much widely and will continue to have a strong user base.