2008 November 
The Grande Fromage of TalkTalk and AOL owners Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone has launched a “formal review of the group’s corporate structure” which could lead to the breakup of its telecoms division, which could potentially see TalkTalk becoming a fully independent ISP.
However, it is more than likely that usual suspects Sky, Vodafone, Orange, BT and the gang will be offered the chance to bid for the customer bases of both TalkTalk and AOL beforehand – TalkTalk is believed to account for some £1bn of Carphone Warehouse’s current £1.3bn valuation.
The BestBuy deal is said to be taking its toll on the group, and Dunstone is reportedly considering splitting the group in half, allowing for easier management of the retail arm of Carphone Warehouse.
“We recognise, however, that the structure of the Group may now no longer be appropriate for the optimal development of the two businesses,” said Dunstone. “The Board has therefore initiated a formal review of the Group’s corporate structure and capital requirements, which may lead to a separation of the two businesses. In this instance I would remain closely involved with both companies.”
This is a bit of an about turn for the company which, earlier this year, was thought to be the favourite to buy up the UK arm of Tiscali’s home broadband customers, a move which would have seen Carphone become the biggest ISP in the country. Now Sky are thought to be in negotiations to buy up Tiscali’s UK operations instead.
Posted by Tom on November 18th 2008 in AOL, BT Broadband, Broadband, Carphone Warehouse, Orange Broadband, Sky Broadband, Tiscali, Vodafone
Today, PlusNet are offering their Home Phone Evenings & Weekends to new customers who sign up for home broadband products Option 2, Option 3, and Pro packages for just £1.99 a month for the first 3 months of the service, should you sign up for a 12 month contract, saving customers £24 on their first year with PlusNet.
Option 2, which provides up to 8Mbps download speeds and 15GB of monthly usage, comes with 120 anytime Broadband Phone VoIP minutes, and can be bundled with either Home Phone Evenings & Weekends or Home Phone Anytime, as can the Option 3 (up to 8Mbps, 30GB usage) or Pro (up to 8Mbps, 15GB, prioritised for gaming).
With PlusNet Home Phone Evenings & Weekends, the cost of line rental is included in the price, with free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines, along with free anytime calls to other PlusNet Home Phone customers.
Home Phone Anytime, available to be bundled with any of the PlusNet broadband packages for an extra £15.00 a month, provides unlimited minutes to UK landlines and 300 minutes to 20 international landlines, as well as the same inclusive calls to other PlusNet customers.
Posted by Tom on November 12th 2008 in PlusNet
Be Broadband has come up trumps in a survey by consumer organisation Which?, racking up a customer satisfaction rating of 85 per cent. Which? awarded Be Broadband with the prestigious ‘Best Buy’ award on the basis of overall customer satisfaction, and the likelihood of customers recommending the broadband provider to their friends. Be Broadband gained an excellent rating of 85 per cent, against an average customer rating amongst of 49% amongst ISPs.
The results of the Best Buy survey were compiled using an online questionnaire on the Which? website which ran between 1st May and 20th May 2008. 18,876 broadband users answered the questionnaire. In putting together the ratings, the survey looked at criteria such as overall satisfaction, customer service, ease of setup, connection speed, reliability and technical support.
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Posted by Ellie on November 11th 2008 in Be Broadband, Broadband
Virgin Media have begun showing off their shiny new bit of kit which will sit next to the computers of those who sign up for their forthcoming 50Mbps service, and we have to say it really is a nice looking bit of wireless gear that you’ll happily have on display in your home, unlike other eyesores, such as the Virgin Media-branded USB modem which came with the 2Mbps service.
The modem is a neat black reflective tablet with an outward convex curve, a bit like a mirror image of the new BT Home Hub, or a mini version of a PlayStation 3. Speaking of which, the speeds afforded by such as device might well appeal to online gamers, so perhaps Virgin Media’s choice of design wasn’t coincidental… watch your back Be Broadband!
Looks aside, the new cable modem runs on DOCSIS 3.0 technology (that’s Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification, acronym fans) which enables such fast downstream speeds.
The 50Mbps service is reportedly due to be made available to punters before the end of the year; it is thought that existing Virgin customers who upgrade to the service will get the new modem sent out to them for free, with newcomers presumably shelling out for a small one-off fee.
Posted by Tom on November 9th 2008 in BT Broadband, Be Broadband, Next Gen Broadband, Virgin Media
Orange have again decided to out the kibosh on their IPTV plans, instead preferring to funnel cash into consolidating their position as the sixth largest broadband provider in the UK by improving their existing services, and investing in setting up their own network, independent of BT. This should see Orange be able to exercise a greater degree of control over their connections, allowing them to provide a better service.
Orange UK big cheese Tom Alexander said that the company is going to focus on “delivering a better quality of service” following on from complaints and criticisms about poor speed and customer relations.
The IPTV service will now be indefinitely postponed, despite successful trials being held across the UK, and content distribution deals signed with the likes of Disney which would see Orange being able to sell films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and High School Musical to broadband subscribers on an on-demand basis.
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Posted by Tom on November 6th 2008 in Broadband, Orange Broadband
Virgin Media are apparently on the verge on launching their next-gen 50Mbps service across their fibre network, following extensive tests and trials in Kent. An exclusive interview with gadget site TechRadar quotes Virgin Media’s Head of Broadband Paul Elworthy saying that the new product represents a “seismic” change in the way in which people use the internet at home.
Elworthy says that the new service will enable people to do more of the same, but much faster:
“We’ve seen an explosion in usage over the last couple of years and this is expected to grow. We believe that super fast broadband will be key in facilitating a richer online experience for our customers.”
The new service will benefit casual and heavy users alike – people will now be able to check emails, book flights and renew insurance simultaneously, and not have to worry about download queues clogging up connections.
“With a 50Mb connection you could download a DVD in a few minutes or a whole CD in seconds – it’s a downloader’s dream.”
Virgin are apparently hoping to make their 50Mbps service available to some 9 million broadband customers by the end of the year. This news comes just after the announcement that the missing Sky channels will be coming back to the cable TV platform, giving Virgin customers another good reason to be cheerful this Christmas.
Posted by Tom on November 6th 2008 in Next Gen Broadband, Sky Broadband, Virgin Media
Sky and Virgin Media have just announced that, following successful negotiations, they have agreed to two new channel carriage deals, the first of which finally sees the return of the missing Sky channels to the Virgin Media TV platform next Thursday on the 13th of November – something of an early Christmas present for Virgin customers.
We can confirm that Sky’s Basic channels – including Sky1, Sky2, Sky3, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 – will arrive on Virgin Media’s cable TV service, and in return, Virgin Media TV’s basic channels – Living, Living 2, Bravo, Bravo 2, Trouble, Challenge and Virgin 1 – will become a mainstay of Sky’s TV channel line-up on satellite.
Sky3, Sky News and Sky Sports News will be part of Virgin Media’s M TV package and therefore be available to all digital TV subscribers, with Sky1 and Sky2 will join Virgin Media’s L and XL TV packages. Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 will make up the rest of Virgin Media’s XL TV package.
Living, Living 2, Bravo, Bravo 2, Virgin 1 and Challenge will be available to subscribers of Sky’s Variety pack of channels, with Trouble becoming available to subscribers to Sky’s Children’s pack.
The two deals are set to run concurrently until the 12th of June 2011, with agreements on carriage fees now fixed, with both channel suppliers able to secure additional capped payments if their channels meet certain performance-related targets.
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Posted by Tom on November 4th 2008 in BT Broadband, IPTV, Sky Broadband, Virgin Media
Mobile operator 3 is the latest network to offer mobile broadband packages for small businesses.
The company’s small business arm, 3 Business, is to launch two new mobile broadband packages aimed at smaller players. The bundles will see data allowances increased to 5GB and 15GB, costing £15 and £30 a month respectively – a good deal greater than the previous 3GB and 7GB limits.
3 Mobile said that any small business that takes out an 18 to 24 month mobile broadband or phone package will also be able to buy a second connection for half the price.
Current 3 customers wanting to sign up to business mobile broadband will be given 50 per cent off line rental for the new plan.
“3 Business has always been focused on offering small businesses a wide range of communications options at the best possible price,” said Renato Bottini, head of 3 Business.
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Posted by Ellie on November 4th 2008 in 3 Mobile Broadband, Broadband, Mobile Broadband, O2 Broadband, Virgin Media
Orange have just announced some new price changes to their domestic broadband products which now sees Orange Pay Monthly mobile customers able to qualify for a discount of up to £10 off of the cost of any of the Orange broadband products, which means that their basic entry-level Home Starter package (up to 8Mbps speed, 10GB monthly download limit), usually worth £10, could be taken as a FREE addition to a any Orange mobile contract, provided that its at least 18 months long.
Obviously, this rules out the rolling monthly SIM-only plans, but customers on such a plan can easily upgrade to a Pay Monthly contract in order to take advantage of free or discounted broadband, and is only available to customers inside Orange’s LLU network; use our postcode checker to see if you can sign up.
In other news, the cost of BT line rental is now included in the price of the top tier Orange Broadband Home Max product (up to 8Mbps speed, unlimited downloads) which, with the Orange Pay Monthly mobile discount is now available for just £15 a month for 18 months.
The news comes right after word of yet another potential Tiscali buyout, which would see Orange become the fifth largest ISP in the UK by default.
Posted by Tom on November 3rd 2008 in BT Broadband, Free Broadband, Orange Broadband, Tiscali
While news of its first ever mobile broadband offering leaked out early, Virgin Media have managed to keep schtum about the best bit… the price.
Today the company is to launch the UK’s “cheapest ever” bundled mobile broadband package. Both new and existing customers will be able to subscribe to the new service from as little as £5 a month, when taken with Virgin Media’s XL (20MB) or L (10MB) cable packages, or Virgin Media’s ADSL Bundle 1 (8MB with ‘Talk Anytime’).
For customers on the cheaper M cable broadband package or Virgin Media’s ADSL Bundle 2 the monthly cost rises to £10. There is a one-off charge of £25 for the USB modem itself, but this is hardly excessive considering the contract has a minimum term of one year, rather than the anticipated 18 months.
The mobile broadband package comes with 1GB of monthly data allowance – enough for 10,000 plain text emails, plus 30 hours of web surfing, 60 music tracks and 30 2-minute videos. Virgin Media charges a very reasonable 1.46 pence per MB for usage beyond the 1GB allowance – less than its competitors.
Graeme Oxby, Managing Director for Mobile at Virgin Media, said: “Our 1GB mobile broadband is great for people who need home broadband but also want access to the internet on the move. The bundle is exceptional value and offers complete peace of mind, not only because it comes from genuine broadband experts but also because it offers the safety net of considerably cheaper rates if customers go over the monthly data allowance.”
Posted by Ellie on November 3rd 2008 in Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Virgin Media, Vodafone
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