3 UK reports its data traffic has risen 700 percent thanks to the introduction of its mobile broadband USB dongle in October. CEO Kevin Rusell this morning said the telco had attracted 500,000 customers to the product “from nowhere” and would upgrade the network to a maximum 7.2Mbps later this year (via Reg).

Mobile broadband dongles are gathering steam in the UK thanks to discount offers and some high-profile marketing campaigns (unfortunately, I subscribed to Vodafone’s (NYSE: VOD) service a month before it halved the rental and the dongle size). It’s likely, too, that some domestic internet customers whose ADSL service is insufficient for broadband speeds are turning to mobile networks as an alternative to fixed-line. But Russell said it’s about creating a new market, rather than displacing the incumbents.