Omnitel customers can buy a laptop or netbook at an initial price of €0.30 (US$0.38) and then pay a fixed monthly fee that includes mobile broadband Internet access for between €23 and €55 depending on the device and the data plan, he said.

Netbooks, in particular, have sparked new interest in subscription computing and Microsoft's partners are scrambling to offer new devices and packages.

"We are looking very much to netbooks as enablers for mobile broadband services and our portfolio has included Asus Eee PCs since July this year," said Silviu Petricescu, a product manager at Vodafone Romania. "Moreover, the Vodafone branded laptop which will be soon available for our customers is also a netbook device."

Omnitel is also offering Asustek Computer's Eee PC with built in 3G (third generation mobile communications) modules in Lithuania. A mobile data plan for heavy users and the Eee PC subscription costs €23 (US$29) per month.

Both companies sell regular laptops, including the Sony Vaio and Apple's MacBook, that range in price from US$400 to $2,600 without a subscription.