Today marks the entry of O2 Broadband into the UK Broadband league, and with it, the hope that its presence alone will help shake up the quickly condensing market place.
O2, which will be selling its service on the Be Broadband network, have delayed their entry into the market many times now; determined not to be another two-play ISP, O2 wanted to do things differently.
“We have been criticised for coming late to market but we did not want to rush it,” said an O2 spokesman. “Earlier this year we were not happy with the service so we have waited.”
O2 also insist that they will not offer high-end services to those who cannot realistically achieve the top-tier speeds: “If we think they can only get 8Mbps, we will not even offer them the other two packages […] A month in we will recheck and if people need to downgrade we will suggest that they do.” said the O2 spokesman.
This falls in line with the introduction of the Value package from Be, offering a better value for money service to customers who could not expect to get the full 24Mbps speed. O2 have been vocal in their support of the Crystal Clear Broadband campaign, a petition set up to ensure that ISPs are more up front about the typical speeds customers can expect.
O2 Mobile subscribers pay £7.50 per month for up to 8Mbps, £10 for up to 16Mbps and £15 for up to 20Mbps, with non-O2 customers paying a £10 surcharge. In addition, O2 customers get 100 free messages a month with their mobile.
O2 have also secured exclusive coverage rights for the first generation of the Apple iPhone, making the offer of O2 Broadband a more tantalising prospect during the Christmas run-up.
Similar Posts: