August 14, 2009
Virgin Media are the latest broadband provider to offer free broadband after we have seen BE Broadband and BT Broadband offer the same in recent days.
 The Virgin Media broadband offer is for 3 months free broadband when customers take out a combined package of Broadband L and Phone M services. Originally Virgin were offering an introductory rate of £5 per month for this but has wiped the £5 per month to make it free for 3 months. If you combine the other offer currently running of the Virgin Media free installation offer (worth £30) then new customers can make a saving of £45.
After a customer has had their 3 months free broadband they will then revert to the standard charges of £14 plus £11 line rental so a total of £25 per month.
The Broadband L package gives customers a 10Mb fibre broadband connection with unlimited usage (fair use policy applies). The Phone M part of the package gives customers free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. Customers will also receive a free wireless router to use to connect their broadband with.
Virgin are also to reduce the price of their 50Mb broadband (view here) starting on the 1st September for any customers who want to have super fast broadband.
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August 12, 2009
The number of LLU (Local Loop Unbundled) lines in the UK has now reached 6 million according to Ofcom, up from just 123,000 back in September 2005.
LLU is basically other telecommunication and broadband companies having their own equipment installed into telephone exchanges so they can offer their own services over BT’s copper wire network.
Back in 2005 there were around 123,000 unbundled lines in the UK, BT & Ofcom came to an agreement which meant that they had to allow access to their network to other companies. Because of this they launched a new division of their company called Openreach which is a broadband wholesale provider to other broadband providers and offers them access to the BT network.
This opening up of the network has seen the average broadband price in September 2005 drop from £23.30 per month down to £13.61 today for an equivalent service. With more than 30 companies offering unbundled services the extra competition will have been a driving factor in bringing broadband prices down with the extra competition.
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Fibre Optic broadband provider Virgin Media have launched a new customer offer of free installation for new customers who take a broadband only package or a combined package.
The previous fee was £30 to have Virgin broadband installed so a nice saving can be made, although the free installation offer is only available online via the website and it is unknown if it is a permanent or just a limited time offer.
There is also another offer running alongside this of £20 credit for anyone who purchases a triple play service online of Broadband, TV & telephone on a 12 month contract, this is due to end on 30th September 2009.
Virgin Media are a fibre broadband provider that offers broadband speeds of up to 50Mb.
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August 11, 2009
The latest broadband provider to have a free broadband offer is BE broadband who are offering 2 months free broadband to new subscribers to it’s BE Value, BE Pro or BE Unlimited with a 12 month contract.
 To make use of the offer new subscribers have until 31st August 2009 to sign up and need to enter the Be broadband promotional code “2MONTHSFREE” when signing up to have the offer enabled.
New subscribers could save up to £43 if they chose the BE Unlimited package which along with the BE Unlimited package offer broadband speeds up to 24Mb via their ADSL2+ network.
The entry level BE Value package offers broadband speeds up to 8Mb and at £13.50 per month would mean new customers making a saving of £27.
All the packages come with a free wireless modem and offer Unlimited downloads (fair use policy).
To get the 2 months free broadband simply visit www.bethere.co.uk and when signing up enter the offer code 2MONTHSFREE
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August 7, 2009
BT Broadband has brought back it’s 3 months free broadband offer to new customers to run until 4th September.
 The special 3 months free broadband offer from BT is only available with online orders that have a 12 month minimum contract with any of their packages and could save you over £55!
The BT packages you can choose from are “Broadband and TV”, “Calls, broadband & TV” or “Calls & Broadband”, however the BT Home & Away package is not included in the offer.
BT have also recently just extended it’s mobile broadband offer worth £180 (BT extend free mobile broadband offer).
We have seen a whole range of fixed line broadband and mobile broadband offers of late as the broadband providers and mobile broadband providers such as O2, Orange and Virgin Media all fight for more customers.
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August 6, 2009
BT Broadband customers can now get their hands on the iPlate for free and start benefiting from faster broadband speeds.
 The iPlate, also known now as the “BT Broadband Accelerator” is a device that plugs into your phone socket and cuts out the bell wire in your phone socket by bypassing it. The bell wire attracts electrical interference that can slow up broadband connections with the electrical interference that it attracts.
The benefits can be quite substantial with broadband speeds tests showing that 50% and above speed increases can be achieved in some cases by having the iPlate fitted.
The iPlate is available free to BT Broadband customers although there is a £1.20 postage charge, customers of other broadband providers can however buy the iPlate for under £10 online from places like ebay.
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Orange has set a new low tariff for it’s mobile broadband, starting at less than £5 per month making it the cheapest in the UK.
 The new deal costs just £4.89 per month but is only available to Orange customers. It has an 18 month contract and comes with 500Mb of data transfer per month, what’s more is that the USB dongle is also supplied free, it is the Huawei E160e which also doubles up it’s use as a memory stick.
The 500Mb data transfer is not going to get regular mobile broadband users on board but it is a brilliant option for those who have occasional need for mobile broadband access throughout the month.
Another Orange mobile broadband deal that Orange have launched is an unlimited off-peak service that costs £13 per month and gives users unlimited mobile broadband data (fair use policy applies) between midnight and 9am and comes with 1Gb of data for use at other times.
Orange have also launched a new piece of software that will alert customers when they are approaching their monthly download limits to help them avoid going over their limits and receiving extra charges. Those who do go over their limits won’t be charged any more than £40 as this is the cap at which Orange have set for those going over their data limits.
This move comes after a report last week (view here) which highlighted that 75% of mobile broadband users were unaware that they could receive hefty charges for going over their data limits.
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August 5, 2009
Virgin Media have increased the available broadband speed for it’s customers who can only get broadband via their National Broadband product and not via Virgin’s own cable network.
The National Broadband service is what Virgin connect it’s customers to broadband with when they are not in an area that is covered by the Virgin’s own fibre broadband network which is around 50% coverage of the UK.
The National Broadband service is offered via a LLU ADSL2+ connection which has been advertising broadband speeds up to a maximum of 16Mb and this has now been boosted to a maximum of 20Mb.
Virgin has now set out what it calls a “National Broadband Best Speed Promise” that describes their advertised broadband speeds as follows “the fastest broadband we can give you up to a superfast 20Mbits/sec” which is designed to clear up the confusion customers get when looking at advertised broadband speeds. Basically it just means that they will give you the fastest broadband speed they can give you up to 20Mb, and in our opinion is just padding out the “Up To” words with a few more.
Virgin should be commended for making a start it trying to address the who “Up To” advertised speed issue that has caused confusion with many, with many people on “Up to 8Mb” broadband connections receiving far less than this not knowing why. The reason being that the further away from the telephone exchange a customer is the slower the broadband that they will receive.
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August 4, 2009
BT are extending their mobile broadband offer for the month of August that gives customers free mobile broadband worth £180.
There are 2 different ways customers can benefit from the BT mobile broadband offer. The first is for any customer who buy a mobile broadband dongle for £129.99 during August will receive 1 GB of data transfer per month free for the length of the offer.
 Alternatively those who take a BT Total broadband 18 month contract deal will receive 1GB of free mobile broadband data transfer per month for the length of the 18 month contract which is worth £180.
The BT Broadband dongle uses the 3G network and has a reported 80% coverage of the UK so should offer good coverage.
The offer has been extended to run until August 31st.
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August 3, 2009
TalkTalk broadband are set to start trials of 40Mb fibre broadband in Muswell Hill (London) and in Whitchurch (Cardiff) that will start this month and run until January 2010.
With BT Openreach starting it’s installation of a next generation fibre network it allows other broadband providers to start offering the services made available on the BT network.
Those customers who will be on the fibre broadband trial via Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) will receive a new router and modem that will be able to handle the faster download speeds and also be given the Essential phone and Broadband package from TalkTalk free while they are taking part in the trial, although they will be required to pay the line rental charges. What’s more is that users as part of the trial will be given an unlimited download limit instead of the 40Gb limit they are usually limited to.
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