Broadband Comparison, News & Reviews

Vodafone has finally begun to sell the iPhone although they are late in the game as O2, Tesco, and Orange have been offering the smart phone for a while. Despite this fact, the company has managed to get a pre-order count of around 50,000 mobiles, which is much more than the 20,000 Google Nexus One mobiles that were sold after its release globally.

The Vodafone CEO stated that the operator will deliver 50,000 within the first day that the iPhone officially goes on the market for the network, which is much larger than the amount of iPhones that Orange was able to sell this past November, at 30,000.

The iPhone tariffs for Vodafone come in 18 or 24 month contracts with unlimited text packages that begin at the cost of ?35 per month for the 3G version of the mobile. Those who want the newer 16GB 3GS version will need to sign into contracts of ?45 per month.

Vodafone also plans to take its marketing plan a step further by promoting the iPhone as an option for those seeking a business phone which could place it up against the popular Blackberry models that Vodafone also offers.

The only downfall of the Vodafone package is that it only includes 1GB of webmail and mobile internet, but an unlimited WiFi package is available to be purchased. For the time being Vodafone will not offer the iPhone on a pay as you go basis either which makes it more attractive to those with larger pockets.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Laptop computers that previously were distributed to the UK public by mobile broadband providers as part of contract deals will now come with 3G connection ability. The new feature will be available alongside the standard 802 megahertz WiFi that is built into all laptops.

The new 3G cards mean that users will not need to use a USB dongle in order to get online. This in itself is not a significant change, but it does prove that many laptop manufacturers are placing their confidence in the future success of mobile broadband.

BroadbandChoices.co.uk a consumer website has seen a lot of attention by the UK public for mobile broadband mobile contracts that include free laptop deals. The interest of the public is worth noting since the new technology will likely draw more attention. On the horizon may in fact be a new type of data streaming.

There is also speculation that a hybrid technology might be developed that will allow users to tap into general mobile broadband coverage alongside the conventional WiFi. This would be logical as mobile broadband providers have only been able to offer 90% coverage across the UK to their users.

If 3G or 4G were used in place of automatic Wifi then internet access would be seamless across the Internet.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Amazon is gearing up for the future competition that is coming from all directions when it comes to electronic book readers by planning an international launch of the upgraded and larger Kindle DX.

The new model will come with a 25cm screen and will be released in over 100 countries on January 19^th. It was previously released last May in the United States. The international launch also follows the debut of the Kindle 6 in October of last year in over 130 countries.

The vice president of Amazon Kindle, Ian Freed stated that the time for innovation when it comes to e-readers is now, and that the time is right for Amazon to become one of the top of the market.

Freed continued to say that Amazon has come up with a few ideas that other manufacturers have not, such as a larger amount of selections of magazines and newspapers and downloads that only take sixty seconds.

At the moment Amazon stated that it has 100 different newspapers and over 400,000 books available for download on the Kindle and that over the year 10m e-books will be sold within the United States.

The upcoming International Consumer Electronics Show which takes place in Las Vegas is expected to be focused on E-book readers. In fact, the conference has set aside a special are of company representatives that want to showcase their e-book readers to the thousands of analysts, bloggers, and journalists who are expected to attend.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Be Broadband, a company owned by Telefonica, has released a new budget value that offers internet connection speeds of 8mphs for around ?90 a year, at the rate of ?7.50 a month. The new deal is much better than the previous cheapest deal by the provider, but also allows users a download quota of 40GB per month.

Everything else in the budget package has the same details of any other Be Broadband package, which includes an ADLS2+ wireless modem, a one year contract, round the clock customer support, and an upload speed of 1.3mbps.

The provider stated that the contract will be for unlimited until June, 20^th, 2010 and that users who think that they will need higher speeds or download quota can choose the next level up which costs ?13.50 per month.

Head of operations at Be Broadband, Tom Williams, stated that the company has noticed that the marketing trends are to provide more freedom among package options and packages that are lower in price.

O2 and TalkTalk will be the main competitors for customers after these facets with TalkTalk offering customers a package that includes broadband connection and free evening and weekend calls within the UK for only ?7 per month.

This may be more threatening for BE if it was not shouldered by its parent company O2 which allows it to build phone deals together with broadband in any areas where there is a network for it to utilize.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Sky Broadband is offering a great deal for those who thinking about switching their broadband provider: Switch to the Unlimited plan that is bundled with Sky Talk Freetime and get all evening and weekend landline phone calls for free for the first six months.

Along with the deal are speeds of up to 20MB depending on the location that a user lives in and the line quality.

The new deal is not available to those who are already Sky Broadband Unlimited customers and the availability of the broadband is limited by location with some set-up fees that may apply. Those that live outside of the Sky network area may have to pay ?17pm more for use of the line.

Sky TV customers are eligible for the offer if they are within the Sky network area but the offer is not able to used alongside any other offer from Sky.

In order to get the deal an active BT compatible line is required and the offer will show up as a ?10 credit on the Sky TV bill over the first six months. After 45 days of ordering the service customers that do not meet the eligibility criteria will have to pay back any previously disbursed refunds. In order to get the deal you must sign a 12 month contract for Unlimited Sky Broadband.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

According to a new report from Ofcom fixed and mobile broadband prices are the most competitive in the eastern regions of Europe.

The survey also looked at the costs that were associated with bundling broadband and a fixed line phone as well as pay per view television and mobile phone use.

The results of the study found that for these services the average UK consumer paid about ?102 per month. It also found that UK is the cheapest area to live with Italy falling into second place for 28% more.

Ofcom claims that broadband tariffs in the UK are cheap due to the amount of price competition. During the time period of July 2008 to July 2009 Ofcom reported that broadband costs were reduced by about 15% and mobile phone bills were down by about 8%.

Additionally, mobile phone calls cost the least in all of the countries surveyed, which included France, Italy, the US, the UK, Germany, and Spain. Italy however was able to provide the cheapest phone calls from land lines.

Ofcom then studied broadband growth in 12 countries adding in more European countries, India, Brazil, Japan, and Canada to name a few and found that the growth level of broadband in the UK was only beaten by the Netherlands which has 25 connections per every 100 people compared to the UK?s 23.

However, when the survey compared the total amount of growth on a year on year average the developing countries had much higher broadband growth rates of about 40% every year.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

As the mobile broadband competition gets more intense in the UK, deals that include free laptops are growing in popularity as a way to snag new customers.

Bringing the laptop deals to the forefront is the news that O2 Mobile and 3Mobile are slicing prices on their MiFi air cards and dongles. In fact, consumer groups have recently decided to take a look at free laptop deals with many providers offering a supposedly ?free? computer with a contract. However, the groups took a closer look at how ?free? their laptops really are once the contract is complete.

In actuality, there is no real price break on the laptop since you will pay more for your mobile broadband, which means over two years you will practically have paid the laptop price in full. However, on the bright side for those who cannot afford a new laptop upfront, it is a great way to get zero percent interest financing on a laptop.

To make sure you really get the best deal, advocates of consumers recommend that that you take a look at how much you will pay with a contract over its length with a laptop and then the cost of the same laptop in stores. The difference between the two is the amount you will actually save

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

A new BT deal will allow homeowners who want a landline from the company to get free access to broadband as well as phone calls. Additionally, the deal also comes with the twelve pound installation fee waved.

Anyone who takes a phone calling plan for their home that is part of a BT package will get the line connection offer for free as well as three months of free broadband and home phone calls on top of the deal.

Members that take advantage of the deal will not only get great broadband trials, but will get them with speeds that can reach as high as 20Mbps from BT wireless connections.

Other deals available from BT include the BT Vision on demand TV service that can be purchased on a pay per view basis or at the low rate of around ?7 per month.

In order to get any of the new deals from BT, interested customers need to head over to the official website to get the free line connection or free phone calls and broadband package deals.

Customers that already subscribe to BT but want to take advantage of the new offer for free three month broadband and free calls by switching to the trial plan and then switching back to their normal BT package after the period of time is over.

The new set of deals appears to be aimed at drawing back BT customers who left for VirginMedia due to the fact they were fleeing the charges incurred by installing a BT line. BT appears to have made the transition for these customers as simple and cheap as possible.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Vodafone has added a new laptop deal to customers who purchase a mobile broadband plan offering consumers the Compaq Presario CQ60-404SA.

The mobile provider is calling the new laptop a netbook but since it weighs about 2.9kg and has a 15.6? display it does not have the same portability that most netbooks are able to boost.

However, although it may not be the easiest thing to carry around, it does come fully equipped with a high definition display, Vista Home Premium, a DVD drive, a keyboard equipped with an integrated number pad, a 250GB hard drive, and 2G of RAM.

The only drawback is that the laptop does not come equipped with mobile broadband installed in the computer, but it does come with the dongle from Vodafone so that you can use it to connect.

Those who are already Vodafone customers can sign into a contract for the new laptop offer at just ?35 per month for 24 months. The contract comes with 3GB of data per month. Those who are new to Vodafone will have to pay ?40 per month for the laptop offer.

Those who want to save a bit of money might actually want to try out a netbook deal for the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 which is much smaller and is only ?30 per month with the same data allotment.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Sky has supplemented its new broadband and TV deals before the Christmas shopping season, by adding an enticing offer for a ?50 Marks & Spencer voucher for free.

In order to receive the voucher, new customers to the Sky service must purchase a Sky package online that offers pay TV channels and broadband connection in a bundle.

One of the best packages that is offered with the free voucher is the lower level Sky+Starter package that offers customers a 2MB broadband connection, free anytime calls, and a free wireless router for ?18 per month. With this package customers are also able to choose between two different Sky TV entertainment packs.

Those who want a better entertainment package may want to look into the Sky World and Sky+HD bundle which will cost more but include choices from all of the Sky entertainment packages and all of the perks of the entry level package.

Sky also has many premium programming offers such as the National Geographic Channel, the Premier League channel, Sky Arts, and Sky Movies.

Sky usually sees an uptake of their services during the holiday season as consumers look for more viewing options during the Christmas period.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan