UK broadband provider T-Mobile has exceeded expectations to be named the UK’s best mobile broadband provider, scooping the top award in nine of the 13 categories measured in a survey of 2,000 mobile broadband users.

The mobile broadband provider beat out stiff competition from the likes of Orange and Vodafone in the YouGov study to finish first in the following categories: value for money, reliability during the day, upload speeds, download speeds, getting connected, ease of use, billing, installation and customer services.

The results follow separate research conducted by P3 Solutions on behalf of T-Mobile which focussed on metrics that the company deems most important to customers, such as the ease of browsing the most popular web sites as well as internet upload speeds and e-mail.

P3 Solutions found that during the fourth quarter of last year, T-Mobile offered the fast web browsing experience. This was found to be on average some 35 per cent faster than its nearest competitor, with upload speeds revealed to be 60 per cent quicker than the second place provider.

Richard Warmsley, head of internet and entertainment for T-Mobile UK, said the findings indicated that the company’s mobile broadband service meets customers’ expectations and that its relative inexpensiveness has chimed with people’s concerns during the current economic downturn.

He commented: “The results of this latest YouGov mobile broadband survey indicate that we’re offering our internet customers the right mix of consistent performance and service, at a fair price. We are particularly pleased about our top rating for value for money. In today’s economic climate, we recognise value is a key factor for people looking for a flexible broadband solution.

“Our customers can stay connected wherever they need to, with the added peace of mind of no sneaky extra charges if they exceed their internet fair use policy.”

Earlier this month, in an interview with ZDnet a senior figure at T-Mobile hinted that it is planning to boost its mobile broadband network to deliver speeds of up to 14.4Mbps. This would bring its service in line with rival provider 3 which also intends to upgrade its mobile network to provide connections at this rate.