CAMBRIDGE, England, May 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Three's E367 dongle has taken the coveted Broadbandgenie.co.uk (http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/) Dongle on the Move Award 2011. This was the third annual running of the mobile broadband industry's toughest test and the first time Three has taken top prize. Congratulations also go to this year's overall runner-up, Orange.

The Broadband Genie Road Trip Awards were set up to see how dongles from all the leading UK mobile broadband providers worked under real pressure. They are sold as 'on the move' broadband gadgets, so the Genie team puts them through their paces in a gruelling two-day head-to-head competition. More than six hours and close to 50 tests across a 300-mile two-way train trip from Cambridge to Leeds saw Three come out triumphant.

David Kerrigan, Three's head of mobile broadband, said: "We're delighted with the performance of our latest dongle in the Broadband Genie Road Trip 2011 awards. Whether browsing the internet, downloading files or streaming video, these awards prove that this dongle delivers an even better internet experience on our 3G network, which is built for mobile internet. This is only the start of the next generation of network technology and we're really looking forward to bringing further improvements to more areas over the rest of the year."

This year's Trip saw seven* dongles competing across five categories, with entrants from O2, Orange, TalkTalk, Three, T-Mobile, Virgin Media and Vodafone. They were judged on upload and download speed, coverage, stability and software. Challenges included completing Broadband Genie speed tests, downloading from the BBC and Downloads.com, uploading to Facebook and streaming from Spotify and YouTube.

Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling said: "This is a really tough test of mobile broadband, moving at speed through both urban and rural areas. We applaud all the networks for taking part, but this year Three's new 3G+ dongle was a clear and worthy winner.

"It has been a disappointing 12 months in mobile broadband, with many providers seeming to stand still. However, Three continues to innovate in both its network and consumer technology, giving us hope for more improvements in the near future.

"Three's winning E367 dongle is currently GBP2 per month more expensive than its standard dongle offering, or GBP49.99 up front. Three is the only provider tested to offer monthly deals with more than 4GB per month of data (offering both 5GB and 15GB), while it also offers the largest range of deals and some of the lowest prices."

Previous Road Trip Dongle on the Move winners: 2010 T-Mobile; 2009 Virgin Media.

Links to more detailed information and award art:

Winners page:

http://bit.ly/m67mX4

Analysis:

http://bit.ly/ms4V2c

Sub-categories

Road Trip Downloader 2011 winner: Three; runner up: Virgin Media

Road Trip Uploader 2011 winner: Three; runner up: Vodafone

Road Trip's Most Stable 2011 winner: Orange; runner up: Three

Road Trip Coverage 2011 winner: T-Mobile; runner up: Orange

Dongle Software 2011 winner: Vodafone; runner up: Three

NOTES TO EDITORS

* A last minute technical issue saw BT's dongle miss the testing.

1. Broadband Genie is the UK's leading independent broadband, mobile broadband and smartphone comparison website, providing consumers with an unbiased source of information on prices and contracts and allowing them to compare providers in an independent environment. Broadband Genie was launched in March 2004 as the first dedicated consumer comparison site for broadband, while Mobile Broadband Genie was the first independent mobile broadband comparison site, launched in October 2007. The sites were combined in 2010, with the addition of smartphone comparison. The site is one of the most popular in its field, regularly featuring in the national press. http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk

2. All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling at Broadband Genie: chris.marling@genieventures.co.uk

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk

SOURCE www.broadbandgenie.co.uk