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Laptops will soon have the technology as manufacturers unite.

BBC News reports that a union between phone firms, chip makers and PC manufacturers will bring mobile broadband to laptop computers. Laptops fitted with the technology will be given a service mark which will demonstrate that they will still work even with higher speed technology.

These include third and fourth generation wireless technology in the future. By Christmas this year, it is expected that the technology will be on the shelves in 91 nations. BBC News quotes Mike O’Hara, a spokesman for the GSM Association, who says "It's comparable to fixed broadband services and close to what you get in a wi-fi hot spot".

The move will mean that the laptops with the service mark, or the ‘Mobile Broadband’ logo will have onboard modules to make them better able to cope with future technologies. The GSM Association has organised the use of Mobile Broadband which will mean customers could buy laptops from the same place they buy mobile phones.

The laptops will come already fitted so that users can go online straight away. It would be a far cry from the original situation where devices would need to be fitted with an external card to use wi-fi. The new technology could utilise browsing speeds of up to 7 megabits per second (Mbps) at their fastest, using High Speech Packet Access (HSPA) and Long Term Evolution.

Principal Manager for PC connectivity Hugh Padfield wants to make it easy for customers to buy mobile broadband, pointing out that the branding system would aide in reassuring customers that they are purchasing a fast net service, “It will help to create even more momentum than what we have already seen with mobile broadband," he added.

There are 16 firms in the ‘Mobile Broadband Alliance’ as it has been dubbed, which includes various manufacturers such as Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo (Laptop makers) along with 3, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Ericsson, Orange, Qualcomm and Vodafone (mobile phones). The deal itself is the work of the GSM Association, which is the trade organisation that represents 80% of the world’s mobile phone companies.

Most of the GSM operators are in Western Europe and the Far East, with US firms backing different technologies. Despite all this, there has been some scepticism from Steven Hartley, senior analyst at Ovum who feels that mobile broadband is not necessary for what the GSM is trying to achieve. "If you look at the uptake of mobile broadband services do they really need an initiative like this? Laptops with the technology will be available by the end of the year.