YouGov, a research firm dedicated to measuring public opinion and consumer behaviour, has revealed that 84% of the UK Mobile Broadband customers it surveyed had experienced problems with their connection. Slow speeds dominated (67%) the top areas of concern, while coverage (49%) and connection stability (40%) were also prevalent.

The limited capacity on HSPA based Mobile Broadband networks is known to be one of the chief causes of slow speeds, although poor coverage plays a big part too. Last week it was also revealed by two separate sources that interest in UK Mobile Broadband appeared to be in decline (here) and it's easy to see why.

Never the less 50% of the European population is expected to have mobile internet access by 2012, although that isn't entirely surprising given that most mobiles sold today come with basic to advanced online service capabilities.

All UK operators employ some form of Fair Usage Policy (FUP) or specific usage cap to help keep their data traffic in check. Some, such as Three (3) UK, have also begun to adopt stricter Traffic Management solutions. However just 42% of those surveyed were found to be aware of the restrictions.

The good news is that future Long Term Evolution ( LTE ) / 4G technology, which is expected to replace the current generation of HSPA / 3G mobile data services over the next two to three years, will improve performance and capacity management.

However those holding LTE up as the holy grail are mistaken. Mobile operators will still need to invest in more capacity, put up prices or enforce tighter traffic restrictions. Mobile data is an expensive game and so, it seems, is trying to earn money from it.