Monthly Archives: January 2010

Superfast fibre business broadband packages introduced by BT

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BT Broadband is now offering a superfast 40Mb broadband which the users can avail by paying just £30 a month.

The users can avail this new package which is known as Total Broadband Fibre by paying only £30 per month. This package will facilitate the business broadband users a lot as it comes equipped with 40Mb downloads and up to 10Mb uploads. According to BT, the users can run a number of VoIP, high-definition video conferencing and other business-grade applications with the help of this service. In addition to this, they can also download web-pages, e-mails as well as FTP files at the same time.
BT Business managing director, Nigel Stagg, stated: “28% of businesses are already using faster broadband to expand their website capabilities, and another 25% are using it to drive more processes online and employ more bandwidth-hungry technology according to our research last year.
“BT Business Total Broadband Fibre gives businesses capacity and reliability, with the reassurance of a priority service, to enjoy the best possible online experience. We are committed to rolling out higher speeds and additional coverage across the UK during 2010.”
BT will introduce two packages. These are Business Total Broadband Fibre and Business Total Broadband Fibre Plus. Both these packages will come adorned with a 24-month contract. A 12-month option is also there. The users have to pay an extra £5 a month. The users can enjoy up to 40Mb downloads and 2Mb uploads with the Business Total Broadband Fibre. On the other hand, the Fibre Plus comes with up to 10Mb uploads. A number of added extras are also offered on both these tariffs which include wifi minutes and webspace. The users need to pay £75 connection fee.
BT has also declared to launch its residential fibre packages last week. The users can avail at just £19.99 a month.
By the end of February, an access to BT’s next generation fibre services will be provided to around 500,000 homes as well as businesses from 31 enabled exchanges while the another 2.5 million homes and businesses can access 40Mb broadband by late summer. By the end of 2010, there will be an increase in this number. It will reach four million.
BT again repeated its promise of providing superfast Broadband to 40% of the UK – or some 10 million homes as well as businesses – by 2012.
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “Starting at just £30 a month, BT’s business fibre broadband packages are affordable even for small businesses.”

TalkTalk added 36,000 new broadband customers

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Around 36,000 new broadband customers have been added by TalkTalk. Thus, the customer base of TalkTalk is now more than 4.15 million which is almost double the 15,000 new customers which were added by them in the previous three months. It also raised revenue by 29% since the same time last year,  because of the addition of Tiscali broadband in July 2009. AOL Broadband is also owned by the company.
Charles Dunstone, chief executive officer, said: “TalkTalk Group’s brand profile, value for money proposition, and customer service have continued to generate real momentum in the market, attracting 36,000 net new broadband customers during the quarter and taking the base to 4.15 million.
“We are now confident that our base at the end of the current financial year will be towards the top of our existing 4.1 million to 4.2 million guidance range. The Tiscali integration remains well on track to create a highly efficient platform for providing our customers with excellent value and service.”

In the first week of January, TalkTalk started shifting Tiscali customers to its own packages thus providing the Tiscali broadband-only customers with a home phone and broadband bundle without paying any extra monthly cost.

Although, it added the customers who can not shift to the TalkTalk bundle. They would find an increase in their broadband-only package from £14.99 a month to £19.99 a month.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “Despite the poor economic climate, TalkTalk’s great value bundles continue to attract new customers. With 8Mb broadband, a 40GB download allowance and a free wireless router, as well as evening and weekend UK landline calls and line rental all for just £18.48 a month, it’s a hard deal to beat.

“TalkTalk also offers Boosts that can push your broadband up to 24Mb, double your download allowance or add Internet security for three PCs, as well as home phone options. It also launched a new high-end 24Mb Broadband package at the end of 2009,” he added. “TalkTalk Pro comes with a massive 80GB download allowance, a free wireless N router and anytime landline calls for just £14.99 a month.”

Sure Signal 3G booster launched by Vodafone

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The 3G coverage booster has been reintroduced by Vodafone mobile Broadband at a new cheaper price.
Originally, this 3G coverage booster was introduced in July last year under the name of Vodafone Access Gateway. This booster permit the owners to increase the 3G mobile network in their home thus allowing them to enjoy an excellent mobile coverage and even access to mobile broadband services. One can use this Sure Signal with any home broadband connection which is getting at least 1Mb downloads, plugging into the line for offering more reliable coverage for all 3G handsets and dongles.

ISP stated “Customers no longer need to worry about missed calls on their mobiles due to inconsistent indoor coverage and will be able to take advantage of the full range of Vodafone services via their handset anywhere in the home or office,”.

Guy Laurence, Vodafone UK CEO added “No other network in the UK can ensure a great mobile phone signal in the home, because the Sure Signal is unique to Vodafone,”. “Customers tell us it is life changing. If they live or work in a basement for example, the only way they may be able to get consistent mobile coverage could be with a Vodafone Sure Signal.”

A research was conducted by Vodafone recently which found that one in five Brits missed an important event or occasion due to the absence of signal. On the other hand,  1 in 50 would even prefer shifting house in order to get better indoor coverage.
Up to 32 people can register themselves for using a Sure Signal. Around four persons can be linked at any one time.

Prices began at £50 one-off cost or £5 per month for 12 months on price plans of £25 or more than that. For the customers who are on tariffs costing less than £25 per month, the Sure Signal is available for a one-off cost of £120, or £5 a month for 24 months.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “While the Sure Signal can make a huge difference to mobile phone users suffering from poor coverage in their home, mobile broadband customers shouldn’t rush out to buy one, since you need a reliable home broadband connection in order to use it – so you wouldn’t need mobile broadband at home anyway.

“However, there are steps you can take to improve your mobile broadband signal,” he added. “Try adding an antenna extension, ditching your mobile broadband router or investing in a signal repeater if you really have no other broadband options.”

UK broadband speeds ranked 26th in world

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Britain received a disappointing rank in the latest global broadband statistics.  It remained at 26th position followed by an average speed of just 3.5Mb.

As stated by the Akamai’s latest State of the Internet report, the topmost position was occupied by South Korea supporting an average download speed of 14.6Mb. Japan grabbed second place with an average speed of 7.9Mb. In Europe, top spot was taken by Sweden with an average speed of 5.1Mb. It was followed closely by Ireland which stayed at an average speed of 5.3Mb.  The telecoms regulator, Ofcom conducted a research last year. According to the findings of the research,  average speed in the UK was 4.1Mb, but that wouldn’t have made the UK to reach top 10.

UK was placed at 21st out of 30 countries by another report formed by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development recently. According to this report, UK possessed slower broadband speeds than Greece and Spain. When ranked in terms of broadband penetration, it came at 13th place.

The Government has made a promise of offering speeds of at least 2Mb to all households in the UK by 2012 whereas the Digital Britain report desires to engender funds for next-generation, superfast broadband networks by means of 50p tax on landlines.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “Many consumers are still not satisfied with their broadband speed. While there are a number of factors that affect your speed – such as the distance from your local exchange and congestion on the network – there are also things that you can do – such as installing an iPlate – to boost your speed.

“However, if you’re still not happy with your download speed, it could be time to “switch broadband provider,” he added. “This can save you a bundle as well as getting you a faster, more reliable service better suited to your needs.”

Orange mobile broadband at half price

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Two of the tariffs are offered by Orange Mobile Broadband at half price. This scheme is available to the customers for three months.
For first three months, the customers signing up to either the 3GB or 10GB 18 month plans can avail half price line rental. Thus, on this latest mobile broadband deal, they can make a saving of up to £37.50. The cost of 3GB contract is £15 a month, but for those who sign up by 31 January can receive the same amount of data by paying just £7.50 a month for the first three months. For three months, there has been a reduction in the 10GB plan. It has now dropped to £12.50 a month for three months.
Those current users who are interested in deriving advantage from the UK’s cheapest mobile broadband contract can go for the 500MB tariff. It can be availed by paying just £5 a month provided with a free 500MB additional data bundle involved for a limited time. It will offer you 1GB per month at just £5.
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “Orange not only offers great value mobile broadband, it also has the cheapest data bundles on the market, starting at just £5 for 1GB and even has a range of unique Early Bird packages that offer free overnight downloads.
“However, you need to keep an eye on your downloads no matter what package you’re on, as out of bundle data can soon add up,” he advised. “Install our free Broadband Download Monitor to track your downloads and set alerts so that you never exceed your limit.”

Free laptops offered to low-income families

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The Home Access scheme of offering free laptops and broadband to around 270,000 poorer families is now put into practice throughout the UK.

The Government first declared £300 million plan in 2008, it has been conducted in two areas offering grants to a large number of families. Each grant will offer a free laptop, a year’s free broadband connection or both in an attempt for closing the digital divide.

Priority will be given to Children in council care and to those with specific educational needs. However, all the low-income families with children between 7-14 can call at 0333 200 1004 in order to apply for the grant.

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls said: “Families who are most in need cannot be left behind in the digital revolution we’re seeing in education.”

However, the executive director of strategy and regulation at TalkTalk Broadband, Andrew Heaney, stated: “The Prime Minister’s announcement that 270,000 low-income families will receive a free computer and free broadband access betrays some deeply muddled thinking.

“No one would dispute that getting low-income families online is a good thing. But the Government’s other initiatives are working to discourage uptake and make Internet access unaffordable for hundreds of thousands of other families.

“As a result of two Government proposals – the phone tax and copyright protection – families face an extra cost of £30 a year to stay online. Demand modelling shows that this additional burden could lead to 600,000 financially stretched families being forced to give up their broadband connections.”

It has been suggested by a latest study conducted by the Institute of Fiscal Studies that access to a laptop at home could result in increasing the GCSE performance by two grades in once subject.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “If you don’t qualify for the Home Access scheme you can still spread the cost of a new computer by signing up to a free laptop deal from a mobile broadband provider. However, you will need to keep an eye on your download allowances to make sure you don’t exceed your limit – especially if you have kids at home who spend a lot of time online,” he warned.
He further added “There are also loads of cheap broadband deals available – TalkTalk is currently offering a year’s free broadband when you sign up for 24 months and Plusnet broadband offers one of the cheapest standalone packages on the market, starting at just £5.99 a month,”.

Winter energy bills slashed with an online tariff

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The people who are willing to wish can save 24% on their costly winter energy bills as told by Brits.

Most of the people of Great Britain will have to now cope with high winter energy bills but the solution has come up by switching to an online energy tariff.

One of the industry expert says that paying by quarterly cash or cheque can face an energy bill of £493 next month.

It is also said that if a person switces to an online deal and pays by monthly direct debit, he could slash their bills by 24% – or £299 – a year.

It has also been pointed that “many bill payers will have cranked up their heating in their homes during the ‘Deep Freeze’ and will soon be hit with unexpectedly high energy bills, an expensive way to top off this costly period.”

It becomes important that people are getting the cheapest energy now as Brits use 40% of their annual energy consumption over the winter months.

It has been commented by one of the industry leaders that “switching energy tariffs is easy and could save you hundreds of pounds a year.

UK’s cheapest energy supplier – First: utility

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First: utility’s new iSaveV2 tariff: With the help of this, Brits can now be benefited from annual energy bills of under £900 for an average-use household.

As per the new iSaveV2 tariff from First:utility, the average household is offered annual energy bills of £898. According to the officials of the firm, it is the effect of the price cut that makes it the cheapest energy supplier in the country.

Apart from this, smart meter will also be installed for the consumers who are making use of this tariff in the times to come.

As per the statement of one of the official of the firm that its going to be a news to the people at large especially those who are are concerned about the increased cost of heating the homes during the winter season.

As already mentioned, it comes with a free installation of a smart meter. The areas that are most likely to be benefited are Midlands and East Midlands whereas plans for further areas are yet to be revealed in the coming weeks.

In the interim period consumers can earn a £20 annual reward for entering at least one meter reading online per quarter.

It is also commented by the “First:utility that it offers a real alternative for people looking for better ways of having their energy supplied, by providing accurate bills, greater visibility of usage and more modern technology which will keep bills low, not just now but in the long term.”

ISP TalkTalk Finds Internet Helped Brits Work and Play over Christmas

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Recently, it has been unveiled by the Broadband provider TalkTalk UK that there are more than 34% of people who stated that they spend time working and accessing work-related emails remotely during the holiday period. This percentage is almost equal to around 16m people. Although, the average amount of time which spent by the people during this period came out to be 3 hours and 18 minutes. Around one in ten admit that they use Internet for more than 10 hours.

Internet TV services are getting more and more popularity among the people. It has been stated by 20% of people that they use to watch and download TV from the Internet during the holiday period this year and spent around an average of 2 hours and 30 minutes in doing this task which compares to 28% of those watching clips on YouTube and 19% busy playing online computer games.

Mark Schmid from TalkTalk said:

“As recently as 10 years ago most of our time over the festive period was spent with our nearest and dearest, or slumped in front of the telly. Now we’re spending big chunks of our Christmas time playing games online, watching TV over the Internet or social networking. Now your Twitter followers know what you had in your stocking before you’ve even tucked in to your turkey!”

It further revealed that more than half of the people use to spend time in sending e-mails to their loved ones while around 40% are there who surf social networking sites. There were more than one in 10 who made calls to their near and dear ones by means of Skype. Only 3% people admit to accessing as well as updating their Twitter account during Christmas and New Year.

40Mb line bonding service launched by BE Broadband

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The launch of a new 40Mb broadband service, has been declared by BE Broadband using two lines “bonded” together for increasing speeds.

The users can avail this new service from February, and following trials during 2009. According to a statement made by BE, it expects from the customers on a 20Mb broadband line to double their download speeds to up to 40Mb followed by an upload speed of 5Mb uploads. Although, the ISP added that because “it’s significantly more complicated to get line bonding running compared to a single connection”, only the existing Pro customers will be provided with the line bonding with a few number of orders to start with.
The interested customers are also warned about the high price of the service. According to Tom Williams, head of operations at BE: “Pricing is yet to be finalised, but it won’t be cheap. It’s taking quite a lot of overhead and resource to bring the product out which is reflected in the price. We think the connection fee will be around £85 and the discounted cost for existing members around £50-£55 per month.”

In order to make the Line bonding work, two copper wire ADSL lines are combined for doubling the  broadband speed. But this doesn’t mean that the people who are looking forward to join this service need to pay line rental on two lines from BT Broadband which further adds to its price.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: MP: “BE’s line bonding service will be available to around 70% of BT lines, allowing users who are not connected to Virgin Media’s 50Mb broadband network – or who don’t want to switch to cable – to boost their download speeds, albeit at a high monthly cost.”