Lenovo Launches Mobile Broadband Service For ThinkPads

Lenovo has announced Lenovo Mobile Access, a no-contract mobile broadband service that will provide its ThinkPad PC users with out-of-the box 3G across nine countries.

The Chinese manufacturer claims that the new service will offer consumers and businesses greater flexibility when connecting to mobile broadband networks.

Lenovo Mobile Access will be available immediately in select models of the ThinkPad Classic and ThinkPad Edge laptops which are equipped with a 3G module.

Flexible structure

The service will launch in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, with a single SIM used for global access, reducing the cost of accessing mobile data services abroad.

A ‘Time-Pass’ costs $1.95 (£1.25) for 30 minutes of Internet or $8.95 (£5.76) a day, while users can also get a monthly allowance of 2GB or 6GB, allowances which can be automatically renewed and paid for under a centralised, single-payer structure.

“We live in world where it’s not only undesirable to be without online access, it’s often disruptive to businesses. For that reason we wanted to create a flexible mobile broadband solution that would be unparalleled in its ability to help business users stay connected and working,” said Dilip Bhatia, vice president and general manager, ThinkPad Business Unit at Lenovo. “Fundamentally, Lenovo Mobile Access gives individual and corporate customers options to determine how, when and where they want to connect with online applications and services, all at a price that fits their budget.”

Lenovo says the service is powered by a scalable cloud-based platform from Macheen, and will provide companies with a number of features aimed at increasing security and productivity. A web-based policy management system will let IT managers customise permissions and access options by services or application for the whole company, specific workgroups or individuals.

How much do you know about smartphones? Take our quiz