2010 February 
O2 is celebrating after achieving poll position in an independent study by SIRODA, which shows the blue broadband and mobile network offering the fastest mobile broadband speeds in the country.
SIRODA completed a comprehensive survey of all 5 mobile broadband providers in the UK over a 60 day period, measuring each connection speed at peak periods throughout the day.
O2 proved to be over 30% quicker than the slowest mobile broadband provider for web page access during tests in January 2010 and on average had the fastest download rate in 12 of the 20 UK key cities tested.
O2 mobile broadband prices start at just £2 per day (500MB, Unlimited Wi-Fi). Click here for more info.
Posted by Laura on February 24th 2010 in Mobile Broadband, O2 Broadband
T-Mobile and Orange have been making puppy dog eyes at each other for ages now so it should come as no surprise to anyone that it was announced today that the two mobile networks are to officially merge. A big engagement party with streamers and delicious cake and everything was thrown in honour of the union (note: we made this bit up).
According to the Times Online, the merger has now been approved by the European Commission and will see rival mobile network 3 doing rather well out of the bargain as well.
The union of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK would have seen the super-networks’ customer base swell to some 30 million customers, which would leapfrog current market leader O2 and potentially stifle competition in the market. In order to allay regulatory fears, the UK’s smallest network 3 will be able to access 3,000 more T-Mobile masts, giving it greater 3G coverage.
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Posted by Tom on February 22nd 2010 in 3 Mobile Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Orange Broadband, T-Mobile
There are only 2 days left to take advantage of O2’s two months free broadband offer; that is a saving of up to £45!
The offer is available on all 12 month contract packages, Standard, Premium and Pro. O2 packages all come with free connection, wireless router, security software and unlimited downloads as standard.
The offer is open to everyone, not only O2 mobile customers, however mobile customers will benefit from a cheaper monthly costs. The packages vary in cost from £7.50 a month to £17.50 a month, with top download speeds ranging from 8Mbps to 20Mbps.
Unlimited usage is included with every O2 Broadband service.
Posted by Laura on February 22nd 2010 in Free Broadband, O2 Broadband
Whilst BT is surging ahead with its BT Infinity and Virgin Media is busy pooh-poohing its rivals efforts, Eclipse Internet has quietly unveiled a couple of cable services of its own which are due to go online in the 12th of April.
According to Think Broadband, the services make use of BT’s fibre networks so it looks as though some sort of wholesale agreement has been reached. Looks like the Tories won’t have to break up BT after all – even if they do win the election.
The two services, called Eclipse Fibre and Eclipse Fibre Pro, both offer top speeds of 40Mbps and interestingly both guarantee speeds of at least 12Mbps throughout.
Not next-gen speeds you’ll agree but it’s good to see an ISP being straight with its customers about what the speeds will be at their absolute slowest.
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Posted by Tom on February 19th 2010 in Broadband
BT Broadband is wave-ing hello to some new broadband and phone bundle deals that are going by the name of Talk & Surf. The basic Talk & Surf package deal combines the Option 1 BT Broadband service (up to 20Mbps speeds and 10GB monthly usage) along with unlimited UK weekend calls. Talk & Surf costs £7.49 a month for the first three months and £14.49 a month thereafter.
Talk & Surf Plus costs £9.99 a month for the first three months (before switching to £19.99 a month) and features unlimited UK anytime calls alongside the same BT Option 1 broadband service.
The top tier package Talk & Surf Unlimited (which we reckon really ought to be called Talk and Surf Wipeout) costs £19.99 a month for the first three months (thereafter switching to £27.99) and includes BT Option 3 broadband package (up to 20Mbps speeds and unlimited downloads) as well as unlimited calls to UK landlines at any time of day.
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Posted by Tom on February 19th 2010 in BT Broadband, Broadband Bundles
The last thing we heard from TalkTalk regarding connection fees for online orders for broadband is that they were to be free indefinitely.
Noting that ‘indefinitely’ doesn’t always mean forever, we’ve been checking back at the TalkTalk website and we’re pleased to report that this is still the case.
Connection normally costs £29.99 but is still free for those who order either of the Essentials or Pro packages from TalkTalk online
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Posted by Laura on February 18th 2010 in Broadband, TalkTalk
It’s been a while since the launch of Virgin Media – just over 3 years in fact.
You’d be surprised to learn then that it’s taken this long for the business arm of NTL:Telewest to be rebranded as Virgin Media Business.
Richard Branson presided over the re-brand aiming to “shake up the UK business telecoms market” and build on the success of Virgin Media in the domestic market by consolidating the brand under “one common offering”.
The company is said to be ploughing money into its networks, provisioning functions and ad campaigns based around the rebrand.
However the option of paying for access to BT’s high speed tunnels has not yet been dismissed by the company.
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Posted by Laura on February 12th 2010 in BT Broadband, Broadband, Next Gen Broadband, Virgin Media
Be Broadband, the UK’s leading provider of ADSL2+ broadband owned by O2, has hinted that it may unroll its own fibre-optic network to rival those of Virgin Media and BT. This news comes a day after it was announced that BT may be opening up its fibre network in the same manner as it currently does with its copper lines.
According to a post over at ISP Review, Be has responded enthusiastically to the news:
“The news that BT are preparing to open up so that other broadband providers can run their own high-speed broadband networks through their infrastructure will help us and other businesses better assess the case for fibre deployment. Although we will wait until BT confirms this move before revealing any of our own plans, one thing for certain is that the UK lags behind most of Europe now in terms of rolling out fibre broadband, which can’t persist for longer.”
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Posted by Tom on February 9th 2010 in BT Broadband, Be Broadband, O2 Broadband, Virgin Media
O2 is extending it’s offer of two months of free broadband until the end of the month.
The deal which sees new customers able to claim up to £45 off of their broadband bill was originally due to finish at the end of January but the deal has instead been extended until the end of the month.
New customers signing up for any of the three O2 broadband packages, that’s Standard, Premium and Pro, will be able to get the first two months for free. O2 mobile customers on contract or pay as you go benefit from reduced prices for O2 broadband. Despite this, the offer is open to everyone regardless of who they get their mobile services from.
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Posted by Tom on February 8th 2010 in O2 Broadband
BT has allegedly been talking to telecoms regulator Ofcom about opening their cable ducts to rival competitors.
According to a piece in the Financial Times allowing rivals to use the company’s infrastructure to run their own high speed broadband networks.
This has come to light recently as the Conservatives suggested that if they won the election they would ‘legislate to force BT to open its ducts’.
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Posted by Laura on February 8th 2010 in BT Broadband, Broadband, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, UK Online
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