Andy, what is your friend's useages. Nokia is coming out with a Blackberry killer which is 850/900/1800/1900 + 2100hz UMTs. It also includes EDGE and wifi. I cannot tell whether it supports 3g. I find its reference ambiguous. Clearly, it supports 3g voice. I just cannot tell about data.
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=834
Boingo offers a good PAYG wifi spot service which you can combine with this service with good international roaming. If you combine this service with a PAYG data chip, it might prove a great laptop alternative which can be tethered to a laptop in a pinch.