Got a brief quote in The Times newspaper this weekend.

In today’s connected world, subscriptions / access methods offered by mobile carriers are really starting to show their age. Gone are the days when you needed a single subscription to power your mobile phone. The arrival of connected devices such as netbooks and tablets means that an increasing number of consumers require two or more subscriptions to power their multiple devices.

Why can’t my mobile data ‘pipe’ be shared easily across multiple devices (in the way that my ADSL line powers my desktop, laptop, iPad and PS3)?

The practice of multi-SIM accounts (two SIM cards associated with a single phone number) seems to have been phased out of the UK market. I don’t understand why. I’ve paid for a data allowance – I want to be able to share it across whatever device I happen to be using at the time.

Presently the only options seem to be:

1) Perform a SIM swap every time I wish to switch devices (assuming that the device is not SIM locked to another carrier)

2) Purchase a mifi unit (or compatible handset) to share a data connection via wifi to multiple devices.

Must it be so difficult? The unit cost of a SIM is pence and security is a non-issue – it’s up to me as a consumer to abide by the T&Cs of fair use and not exceed my data allowance.

Is this another exercise in carrier control and them not wanting to be positioned as a utility bitpipe?

Can anyone point me to a UK carrier still offering multi-sim?