The battle for the mobile broadband market is hotting up with USB dongle sales jumping to 18,000 last week Ð the same amount sold in the whole of September last year.

USB dongle sales have been rising sharply week-on-week over the last six months, according to research firm GfK.

3 is thought to be well ahead of the pack with around half of all USB sales, while Vodafone and T-Mobile have recently slashed prices in a bid to compete with 3.

T-Mobile has cut its Web’n’Walk 24-month pay-monthly price from £20 to £15 in-stores. Meanwhile, Vodafone has also dropped its prices, matching T-Mobile’s £15 price tag, as well as switching its strategy from just the b2b market to target consumers.

The operator is heavily promoting its deals in newspapers and through outdoor advertising.

Orange has entered the market after a strong push from Phones 4u. However, O2 has yet to release its own dongle and has chosen to focus more on the fixed-line market.

Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4u stores account for around 30% of dongle sales.

Mobile recently reported that many 3 and T-Mobile stores claimed that 40% of their contract sales were USB dongles, with 55,000 sold in January leading up to last week’s peak.

Dongles are devices that plug into laptops to give wireless, broadband-speed internet access.