Mobile phone companies Orange and T-Mobile have become the latest firms to offer free laptops on new mobile broadband plans.

T-mobile users entering a new 24 month Mobile Broadband Plus contract will receive an Acer Travel Mate 5320 laptop to use with their modem which also allows them to send 200 text messages per month.

Richard Warmsley, Head of Internet and Entertainment, T-Mobile, said: T-Mobile is committed to offering customers everything they need to access broadband, wherever they need it. This latest Mobile Broadband Plus deal, including both the Acer laptop and web’n’walk stick, is the first complete package on offer. Surfing the net has never been easier.”

Rival Orange is offering the ultra-portable Eee PC from Asus which was recently relaunched with a larger 8.9” screen. The devices, which boast a solid state disk to help prevent dataloss in the event of a mishap, have been a huge success and were the ‘must have’ purchase of last Christmas.

For £25 a month consumers will be able to purchase a package consisting of Orange’s ‘Internet Everywhere’ mobile broadband service and dongle and the laptop.

Francois Mahieu, Director of Devices, Orange UK said: “It is Orange’s aim to be at the forefront of serving today’s 21st century customers, so we’re pleased to bring to market our first connected laptop offer with Asus. This launch is just the start, over time we will be expanding our offering even further with more suppliers who are at the forefront of laptop technology.”