Posted by Admin on September 3, 2010 – 6:09 pm
Last week BT signed up its 15 millionth user to its high speed network.
It is now 10 years since broadband was first introduced in the UK and it is now used by almost three quarters of the UK’s homes and small businesses. Britain can now boast a higher take up rate than any other developed nation due to widespread availability and low prices.
It was Virgins predecessors NTL and Telewest who first offered broadband services in 2000. BT became serious about broadband services in 2002 when prices were slashed by former chief excecutive Ben Verwaayen after broadband equipment was installed in local telephone exchanges.
BT was signing up almost 5,000 new customers each day although that rate has slowed down in the last couple of years due to a price war in the fixed broadband market.
Virgin Media serves 4.2 million customers over its cable network although last week it was revealed that 9 million people in the Uk have still never used the internet. Almost two thirds of the 15 million customers using BT’s network are using a rival internet provider such as Sky or Talk Talk who use BT’s infrastructure.
BT is now investing a further £2.5 billion to roll out fibre broadband to 2 thirds of the UK.
Posted by Admin on May 17, 2010 – 2:11 pm
Oftcom has revealed findings in a mystery shopper test conducted in March this year.
BT and Sky were found to be the two least likely Internet Service Providers to inform new customers of the maximum speed achievable on their line when signing up for an internet connection
O2 came top in this catogory in the test by informing 58% of callers with the information. BT provided the information without prompting to only 28% of callers and Sky to 39%.
However when prompted by the callers O2 came out worse by providing only 80% of the shoppers with the maximum speed information. Pulsnet, after prompting, provided 93% with the requested information. They came top in that category.
Overall Ofcom said that 15% of mystery shoppers failed to obtain a likely speed for their line , with 42% having to prompt the provider for the information. In addition 40% were told that the speed was an estimate and 31% were warned that a number of factors were involved in the actual speed.
Ofcom is planning to work with Internet Servics Providers to tighten the Voluntary Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds by creating a universal speed measuring test in an attempt to ensure UK customers are provided with more consistant and accurate information.
Posted by Admin on August 25, 2009 – 1:20 pm
How many hours do you spend online? Broadband providers offer deals based on your usage so to get the best deal, you shouldn’t buy more than you need. Some packages offer ‘unlimited downloads’ but if you don’t surf that much, then it might be cheaper to get a capped deal. If you download a lot then check the fair usage policy to ensure your new service wont be suspended if you download excessively.
Download speed is the most important element of your package so first of all check the speed that you can get in your area with each provider. The closer you are to your telephone exchange the quicker your speed will be. Dont sign up for a 12 Mbps deal if you can only get a maximum download speed of 6Mbps for example. Bt hope to provide a 20Mbps speed deal by March 2010. They will also give free Broadband Accelerators to anyone applying online.
Save money by combining your landline, broadband and TV. Check the deals carefully as they all vary. Virgin Media, Sky and BT offer the best deals. Talk Talk and Plusnet also offer good deals.
If you are short of time consider a comparing broadband deals to see if switching provider can help save you money
It can be difficult to change providers if you are tied to a 12 month contract so make sure that you choose a reliable company. Cheap is not always the best.
