Using 3G mobile phone technology (384Kbps) for full Internet access is nothing new, with business datacards already being sold. However, Vodafone is trying to break the mould by launching a domestic (home) solution:

The device looks like an ordinary broadband connection, with a box on the wall. One socket is Ethernet for the home PC network. Another is USB, for a printer. And then there's the three-line phone outlets, so you can (suggests Matthew Haigh in Mobile News) plug in a phone, a fax box, and an answering machine.

Vodafone's (German language site) Zuhause web service is giving "limited download" over its German 3G network to subscribers - five Gig of data a month - for twenty Euros a month. A comparable service, Surf@home from O2, will be a lot higher (German language site) priced, with some differences in the small print.

Obviously this is no solution for areas already covered by rival technologies (ADSL, Cable etc.) because it's simply not fast enough to compete.

Having said that, it provides a great deal of data allowance (5GB) for a mobile phone based technology and could help in remote areas. Then again, remote areas might not even be covered by 3G.

Currently it's only a German technology, yet the companies behind it will be looking elsewhere, should it prove successful. We can see other niche markets for this technology (boats, caravans etc.), although it would need to be portable and not require static placement. More @ NewsWireless.