Orange mobile broadband

Simplifydigital helps you compare mobile broadband suppliers so you can choose the one that's right for you.

Orange offers up to 3.6Mb mobile broadband from £6.50 a month. The packages comes with a 3GB monthly download cap, which enough to send 2,000 emails, browse the web for 100 hours and download over 200 music tracks. As long as you don't try to download full-length films, it's unlikely that you will exceed the limit.

Orange is not for the commitment-phobic. You will  have to sign a contract for a minimum of 18 months, but you get the dongle free.

Orange history

Orange is one of the UK's most visible brands. Though mainly known as a mobile phone provider, Orange also offers home, business and mobile broadband services, as well as landline rental.

Orange was founded in 1994 by Hutchison Telecom. The orange colour was chosen because it's said to have a strong Feng Shui element. The square logo was used to differentiate it from the citrus fruit.

In 2001, France Telecom acquired Orange plc and merged it with its existing mobile operations.

In addition to their global mobile network, Orange is the biggest internet service provider in Europe. They have over 10 million subscribers across the UK, France, Poland, Equatorial Guinea, Spain, Senegal, Slovakia and Switzerland. Up until 2006, Orange broadband operated in the UK under the name Wanadoo. The name was changed to simplify branding.

Orange has extensive 3G coverage in the south of England, but it gets slightly patchier as you go further north. Their 2G network covers more than 99% of the UK, so you should be able to go online almost anywhere, albeit not at top speeds.