Laptops with the wireless chips built-in will bear a service mark which shows they will work with the third and fourth generation wireless technology.
At their fastest, these technologies - which include High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Long Term Evolution - support web browsing speeds of up to 7 megabits per second (Mbps).
"It's comparable to fixed broadband services and close to what you get in a wi-fi hot spot," said Mike O'Hara, a spokesman for the GSM Alliance which has brokered the tie-up on Mobile Broadband.
"There's a natural evolution such as we saw with wi-fi which at first used to need an external card and became embedded."
Hugh Padfield, principal manager for PC connectivity at Vodafone, said: "The important thing for us is to make it as easy for customers to buy mobile broadband."
Laptop makers Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo have signed up to the alliance along with 3, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Ericsson, Orange, Qualcomm and Vodafone.
Mr O'Hara from the GSMA said laptops were just the start of the process of connecting more devices with mobile broadband technologies. The wireless modules would soon crop up in digital cameras, music players, cars and phones.
