Dell Launches Built-In Mobile Broadband For Business Across Europe

Dell has agreed a deal with Telefonica, the fifth largest mobile network provider in the world and owner of O2, to offer Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) mobile broadband services to business customers in Europe, marketed under the name ‘Dell NetReady’.

The service uses 3G connectivity built into some enterprise-class Dell devices, and comes in various packages, each one offering the choice between web surfing time or data use.

The entry-level offer starts at £0.99 per user, which will provide either 10Mb or 30 minutes of time online, whilst the most expensive is £16.99 for one month of surfing or 1GB of data.

Dell NetReady currently works across borders in five countries (Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, UK and Ireland), with the rest of Europe expected to be covered in the near future. However, due to software limitations, it is only available for Windows desktops, laptops and tablets.

In the UK, the service will be managed by O2.

For the mobile workforce

NetReady brings together Dell’s hardware expertise and Telefonica’s pan-European mobile broadband network. The service is a combination of incorporated M2M SIM-card and pre-installed software.

It works like this: when a user turns on their compatible Dell device for the first time, a pop-up window will emerge displaying a range of connectivity bundles. To get online, users have to select an appropriate PAYG option, complete the O2 registration form enter payment data and that’s it.

There are currently 12 Dell products on sale that feature the required mobile broadband card, including the Latitude 10 tablet.

Dell says the service is capable of providing faster speeds than a congested Wi-Fi hotspot, claiming that all data roaming charges are transparent and the bundles move with the user from country to country. The company already offers a similar service in the US.

Last month, Dell launched its Mobility Solutions platform to enable secure access to enterprise applications and data from employees’ personal devices and incorporate cloud-based services into mobile applications.

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