Increase in number of broadband connection in UK noted by Ofcom
The communications regulator, Ofcom, has noted that there has been an increase in the number of broadband connections present in the country, which is now numbering 17.5 million.
The number of people adopting broadband connections have been increasing over the past couple of years with a large number of providers providing a variety of packages that are very easily accessible for a lot of people in addition to being affordable.
The figures from Ofcom have revealed that the number of broadband connections in the country are now in the range of 17.6 million. The number of connections currently in use in the country as at the end of the first quarter show up an increase of about 1.6% when compared to the last quarter of last year, according to the Ofcom Telecommunications Market Data Tables.
About 4.6 million of the broadband connections currently in place are said to be provided by BT Retail, which emerged as the top provider and more than 3.4 million broadband connections, according to the report, are being provided by the other providers. About 3.7 million broadband connections are said to be provided by Virgin Media cable. While BT, as of now, has a bigger market share than its biggest rival, Virgin Media, the new 50 Mbps connection along with the discounted prices being offered by Virgin could possibly see Virgin overtaking BT as the biggest broadband provider in the country.
A study conducted recently has revealed that the fastest broadband down – link speeds being offered come from Virgin Media with the average speed being around 7.42 Mbps, a factor which, they say, could increase the number of customers who switch from BT or from other broadband providers to Virgin Media, thereby possibly resulting in Virgin Media becoming the most dominant player in the market with the highest market share.
Free line rental waiting for you at the Post Office!
It seems that we are finally able to see the result of a high level of competition in the market for home phones in the United Kingdom. The last wall of resistance, which was the charges for using a landline from BT, is slowly but steadily falling. The post office, which has been widely praised for their very good approach to dealing with their customers, is giving away a package with both broadband and home phone services, which costs just about 20 pounds for every month and also seems to include free line rental as well, which is just great news for the customers.
It is of no doubt that BT is still getting wholesale payments from the RBS Post Office, but the customers don’t have to worry too much about this. The only point of concern for customers has to be the bottom line, i.e. how much you are paying monthly for services that you want. Homephonechoices.co.uk, a popular website which assists customers, has compiled an amazing comparison of the top deals for the home phone service which are found in the UK.
And since a large proportion of the customers in the UK have access to the Internet, Home Phone Choices have compiled these reviews with broadband bundling as well as without broadband bundling. To simplify the process of comparison of telco services for homes, Home Phone Choices have put an easy – to – use comparison tool on the home page of their website. In order to make use of this free service comparison tool, you will just have to input your post code into a particular box, select the level of service that you would like to experience and then click the button in order to compare the prices.
Source - kingpin-seo.co.uk
Britons too lazy to switch to other broadband providers
Internet users in the UK are not taking advantage of potentially big savings by not taking the effort to switch to other broadband service providers or get all their services into a single package, a moneysupermarket.com research revealed.
10% of customers aren’t bothered enough to switch to other service providers while 69% aren’t getting the best value for money as they are satisfied with their present supplier or don’t prefer a bundled package.
The communications director at moneysupermarket.com, Ian Williams, said that their research had revealed that customers who had changed broadband service providers have saved nearly 200 pounds during that time, which makes a big difference to their household spending. The biggest stumbling block to this is apathy.
The research also revealed that more than half of UK’s surfers still pay a separate amount for TV and broadband packages despite the savings that can be taken advantage of.
Williams said to PC Pro that they are not generally fans of bundled packages as they aren’t very transparent with regard to price but that, now, the deals seem to be quite good.
The savings of 320 pounds every year for consumers who are moving from Sky TV, Post Office broadband as well as BT line rental to the triple deal package from Sky is also worth mentioning.
However, the website also warned that once people had got on board with a bundled package, they could find it difficult to move onto some other services if there were better deals offered in the future.
Williams said that people are scared of switching providers and being left stranded without any broadband and this is the biggest problem once you’ve committed to a bundle. If you want to change all 3 items at the same time, it might not be easy and people would rather not change them.
Source - PC Pro
Consumers and companies both benefit from “bundles”
The economic meltdown does not have to defeat communications and entertainment. Now, saving consumers some big bucks and sparing them different paying hassles, they can now avail of fixed three-in-one service bundle.
Indeed, there is lowered cost when consumers opt for purchase of a fixed-line telephone, internet and cable TV services from a single provider. This system is called the bundle and both the provider and users are largely benefiting from the idea.
Consumers are now put to greater convenience as they receive just one billing for all three services, and pay for just that. For service providers, it also saves them of administrative operations costs.
The bundle came about from BT which offers discounted bundle services. Prior to their provision of three-in-one bundles, regulations against such scheme were imposed. But due to the healthy competition in the fixed-line services, Ofcom has lifted such restricting guidelines and finally BT was able to provide the low-cost services in just one bundle.
Research pertaining to the increase of bundle schemes also reported that it has become popular with UK consumers as well. Over 46% of consumers in the United Kingdom purchased two or more services in bundles in 2008, where in the past three years the number was only 29%.
Service providers are continuing to develop these bundles to keep attracting growth and profits. In this line, consumers are warned ahead that they should choose the bundle that suits their needs before closing a deal, or get separate services instead.
For example, only get broadband in a bundle if it matches your speed requirements and if its download limit is large enough. Or in terms of television, make sure you get all the desired channels and programs, and so on. Don’t get tied also with a contract longer than desired.
For more related information regarding this post, visit: ofcom.org.uk
