Three (3) has launched new 'Mobile Broadband' (3G HSPA) Starter Kits for Pay As You Go (PAYG) customers, which contain a ZTE or Huawei e220 USB Modem (dongle) pre-loaded with data. The Kit, which offers speeds of up to 2.8Mbps, will allow new users to be up and running within minutes and even rolls the data allowances over into future months.

Kits are available with varying amounts of pre-paid credit which can be used over 3, 12 or 24 months, giving customers the flexibility to use their allowance whenever they want over that period. Once the pre-paid credit period is over, customers can continue to use their Starter Kit dongle by simply buying Top-ups and Broadband Add-ons via the regular channels. The Kits are available online or in 3 Stores across the UK from today.

Prices start from £69.99 for a package containing the USB Modem, 3 GigaByte's (GB) of data allowance and a data validity period of 3 months. This is a most welcome change from existing pay as you go deals, which usually require that the data allowance be used up within a single month. What’s not so clear is how the data validity period will apply when buying additional top up’s.