Virgin Media has added wireless broadband to its range of offerings, with a service bearing a remarkable resemblance to T-Mobile's deal, except without the Wi-Fi hotspot access thrown in.

This shouldn't be a huge surprise, given that Virgin is only a virtual operator, carried on T-Mobile's network. But should anyone compare the prices then the Virgin advantage isn't immediately obvious.

Both companies will charge you 15 quid a month for a 3GB fair-use cap, though T-Mobile is currently offering a five pound discount for the first three months and, of course, access to their hotspot network too.

Some customers will want to deal with one company, getting everything from a quad player, in the same way that people become attached to an insurance company or bank - the trust is in the brand and they'll buy from that brand.

So it's important for Virgin to offer mobile broadband if only to close an opportunity for other companies to sell to their customers. Still, one would have thought that a company like Virgin could do better than sticking a red label onto a blue service. ®

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