Such a service allows users to go online anywhere with their laptops, even if they are not at Wi-Fi hot spots.

This paid-for service requires the subscriber to use a compact USB modem and a SIM card to hook up to the net via the telephone networks.

Attesting to the popularity of this method of getting connected, Starhub said that its mobile data traffic as at last November had grown almost 50 times from the year before.

Its mobile broadband users downloaded 924,672 gigabytes (GB) of data from January to September last year, up from 18,679GB over the same period the year before.

At MobileOne (M1), mobile broadband now contributes 9.6 per cent of its revenue, up from 7.7 per cent in 2007.