Of course the answer to the question in the headline of this post is yes. I don’t know if you’ve been following the recent testing going on regarding Apple’s woes with the new, some would say regrettably named, iPhone 3G, but there is a wave of influencers out there pointing their fingers more at the networks than at the hardware after these tests. Logic would seem to dictate that the test findings (which in essence boil down to “it depends”) would reveal vagaries and differences. And this isn’t just true with the iPhone either. It affects other handsets and wireless cards and multiple networks.

That old saw, “Your mileage may vary” is more than true here, even in the best of circumstances. We’ve all seen coverage dwindle away to nothing at conventions, sporting events, and any large confluence of users trying to access the network. But it brings up some interesting issues when it comes to truth in advertising, and perhaps even billing and accounting.

If a user goes over his/her precious cap they are charged more for doing so. Caps and tiered plans are bing floated around by broadband providers under the guise of protecting their networks, which simply translates into upping their profit margins. But unless a user really pushes hard, there is no reduction in the billing rate when service degrades and a device becomes unusable.

There has been a recent push for the small UMPC/ULCPC/MID/Netbook/Mini-whatever-the-catch-phrase-of-the-day-is devices to include some implementation of 3G connectivity. Joining Asus's eee Pc and Fujitsu's U810 (and the others who started life with WWAN), Acer's Aspire One is also getting its own 3G connection. I know that with the Fujitsu U810 as well as the T2010 with WWAN capabilities, users are locked in to AT&T's network. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not as you are not only locked in to a specific carrier with these devices, you are also locked to the device. If the UMPC is the only computer you have with 3G connectivity, it will be the only computer you can access the web with, unless, of course, you have another way of getting wireless data. What would you rather have, a small USB or ExpressCard 3G modem or would you rather each device have its own dedicated modem? I wonder if the integration of WWAN into these supposedly low-cost devices is one of the reasons being given for their seemingly high price. What are your thoughts and comments on these small netbooks having WWAN built-in?