Broadband Deals
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Orange Broadband Customer Service Gets New Boss
After consistently coming near the bottom when it comes to broadband customer service, Orange has hired a new Vice President of Customer Service to turn their fortunes around.
Jackie O’Leary arrives from the Carphone Warehouse broadband business, TalkTalk, following stints at AOL, O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile.
When talking about her new position in the company, Orange’s CEO, Tom Alexander, said, “With over 20 years experience in the mobile, broadband and other industries, Jackie is key to us hitting our ambition of becoming the UK’s best-loved communications brand. She is a massive asset to the team”.
Orange is hoping that O’Leary will be able to turn their broadband sector around using her vast experience. In fact, she was well known for helping the Carphone Warehouse through their recent TalkTalk customer service crisis – and now Orange is hoping that she can do the same for them.
The need to respond quickly to customer enquiries was also addressed by Alexander. He said, “In a world that appears to be changing ever-more quickly, we need to be more agile, we need to respond quicker and we need to be better set up for the challenges that lies ahead.”
One thing is for sure, with O’Leary’s credentials the future is looking ‘brighter’ for Orange and its consumers. After frequently coming out last in surveys conducted over the past few years, Orange consumers can now look forward to seeing a positive change in broadband customer service.
Price Of Broadband & Mobile Phone Calls Dropping
The price of broadband and mobile phone calls has dropped in the UK, according to a recent study carried out by the European Commission.
This has helped the telecoms industry to actually expand despite the economic downturn – with more customers paying less for the same good quality service.
The EU’s Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding, said “Europe is the continent of mobile communications, with more and more people using mobile phones and mobile broadband services. Despite the global economic crisis, European consumers communicate more than ever with their phones and via the internet. This is good news for a sector that can help Europe defy the downturn.”
The survey revealed that take up of mobile broadband in the UK had reached 28.4% in January 2009 with prices dropping by 19% since 2007.
Hamilton First To Get BT Super Fast Broadband
Hamilton in Scotland is the first town in the UK to get BT’s new super fast fibre optic broadband network.
There had been much speculation as to which areas would get the upgrade first with Cardiff, Edinburgh and other major UK cities reported to be high up on the list.
13,700 lines in Hamilton have been enabled for next generation broadband services on BT’s pioneering 21st Century Network (21CN). The new network will allow users to benefit from video-on-demand, data, voice and broadband services, with super fast speeds to match.
The Director of BT Scotland, Brendan Dick, said, “Hamilton is one of the first major communities in the UK to achieve the level of coverage. It is a key milestone for the town and fantastic to be part of this exciting, world-leading project.”
He continued, “Most of the foundations are now in place for offering next generation broadband services, but of course it will take time for companies offering those services to introduce products taking full advantage of this major investment. We are working with these companies to move forward as quickly as possible.”
BT’s fibre optic broadband installation project is the UK’s largest ever investment in super fast broadband and is expected to cost the company over £1.5bn over the next 3 years.
Virgin Media Adds V Stuff Broadband Extras
Virgin Media has today announced the addition of a range of extras, known as V Stuff to their existing broadband packages.
The V Stuff extras offer free backup, online storage and free photo prints, with Virgin broadband size L and XL consumers receiving 5MB and 10MB of free storage respectively, while 50Mbps XXL users get unlimited storage.
Jon James, the Director of Broadband for Virgin, said, “Despite being the UK’s fastest broadband provider, we know that the internet is not just about speed. With the ability to store and share an unlimited number of photos and files online, and the unique facility to choose and print hundreds of photos for free, we’re going way beyond our customer’s expectations.”
James continues, “Our great new V Stuff service is the perfect broadband companion to enrich our customer’s lives.”
Virgin Media customers who have the L and XL broadband package can print for free 25 and 50 photos per month respectively, while those on the 50Mpbs XXL package get 100 free prints per month.
With the revelation last month that more than half of the UK’s broadband users are unhappy with their package, it’s good to see companies like Virgin Media introducing new additional extras like V Stuff to give consumers more value for their money.
For further information on V Stuff, please go to virginmedia.com.
Cheap Broadband Helps Parents Flexible Working Hours
With more parents now entitled to ask their employers for more flexible working hours, cheap broadband looks set to help businesses cope with the expected increase in demand of staff wanting to work from home.
Many companies have been worried about the high costs of setting up the necessary technology for their staff to work from home. However, the Citrix Online Director of E-Commerce, Andrew Millard, says that it isn’t as expensive to make the necessary changes as businesses might think.
Mr Millard said, “With technologies now in place to help companies mobilise a remote workforce quickly and easily, without the need for expensive on-premise infratsructure costs, this latest announcement gives businesses an opportunity to drive efficiencies into their operation, while increasing staff morale, retention and productivity levels.”
So whilst businesses may need to put initial technology into place, the long term cost benefits could far outweight the initial expense.
The use of broadband can enable employees to keep in touch with the office even when they aren’t there. Emails and even video calls can be conducted online which makes it a lot easier to work from home.
Allowing employees to have flexible working hours will also help to reduce time off and boost morale too. The only problem that really presents itself is to businesses which use older computers.
The Business Development Manager of Aastra, Mike Ballentine, said, “Most modern systems provide IP capabilities when and how you want them, but if you have a very old system you may need to look for an upgrade.”
The new legislation regarding flexible working hours for parents comes into place this week. Businesses can use the legislation to their advantage if they do embrace the change and put into place the appropriate technology needed for employees to work from home.
No Broadband In East London After Damage To Lines
Damage caused by third party contractors to broadband lines in East London has caused major disruption to end users with many experiencing no broadband access.
The underground cables were damaged over the weekend by a third party contractor. A spokesperson for BT Openreach gave the following statement, “BT Openreach can confirm that following significant damage, by a third party, to cables in a deep underground tunnel on the afternoon of Saturday 4th April, a large number of end users in parts of East London are currently experiencing a loss of service.”
It is uncertain when the problem will be fixed with BT Openreach saying, “Due to the nature of the damage which happened 32 metres below street level, and the restricted access to the site, it is not possible at this stage to provde an exact timeframe as to when service will be restored to all customers.”
The estimated time is a few days, but as their statement suggests, BT really doesn’t know at this stage when the problem will be fixed.
The company has issued an apology while its reported that around 70% of customers that were affected have been reconnected already.
