Latest Broadband Deals
3 Add New Mobile Broadband Wi-Fi (Mi-Fi) Plans
Mobile communications company 3 (three.co.uk) has announced the launch of two new 18 month mobile broadband Wi-Fi (Mi-Fi) plans.
Mobile Wi-Fi broadband, known as Mi-Fi, is an exciting new service from 3 that has a small wireless modem device which uses 3’s broadband network to create its own mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
This enables users to connect a range of Wi-Fi enabled devices (for example the iPod touch, netbooks and gaming devices) to the internet at the same time. There’s no need for wires, a USB connection or a fixed line as it uses 3’s 3G network.
The new 18 month Mi-Fi plans are available for either £12 a month for 1GB of monthly data allowance or £17 a month for 5GB’s of data. There’s no one-off charge for the wireless modem.
Interested readers can find out more at the three.co.uk website.
54% Of Broadband Complaints Go Unresolved
New research has shown that more than half of customer complaints (54%) about their broadband service remain unresolved.
This is despite the fact that there are formal codes of practice in place to help the complaints procedure run smoothly.
The survey by Broadband Choices found that 36% of broadband customers didn’t bother to report any problems with their broadband service, with 33% of these saying it was too much hassle.
A further 18% of people didn’t understand how to complain, while 23% didn’t have faith that their broadband supplier could resolve the complaint.
The survey questioned 4,000 broadband customers and found that just under half of them (47%) didn’t even realise that their broadband provider had a code of practice in place for complaints handling.
Furthermore, 77% of people were unaware that they could escalate their compliant using an Ofcom approved ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) scheme up to 8 weeks after they had complained to their broadband supplier.
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Virgin Media Offers Short Mobile Broadband Contract
Virgin Media (virginmedia.co.uk) has added new short mobile broadband contract options to its range of mobile broadband packages.
Customers can now choose a Virgin mobile broadband package that comes with only a 2 month contract tie-in as opposed to the existing 18 month option.
The monthly charges for both 2 month and 18 month contract options are the same with the 1GB data allowance costing £10 a month and the 3GB data limit £15 a month. Both offer mobile broadband speeds up to 1.8Mbps.
Users opting for the shorter 2 month contract will have to pay a one-off £24.99 for the Virgin dongle, whereas those choosing an 18 month contract get the dongle free.
Virgin mobile broadband has recently been rated best for customer service, usability and easiest set up in a Which? survey.
Readers can find out more at the virginmedia.co.uk website or our our Virgin Broadband review.
Broadband Users Online For 30 Hours Per Week
A recent study by Uswitch has revealed that UK broadband users spend on average 30 hours per week online.
On a typical working day, around 67% of people use the internet at work for both work and leisure purposes that include finding the best deals on utilities like broadband.
At the weekends broadband users spend up to 3 hours a day online, with 19% of 18-24 year olds spending 8 hours per day online.
Unsurprisingly 93% of broadband subscribers use the internet to shop online, with 79% spending 2 hours a week shopping online.
Over 50% of people who took the survey stated that they spend at least 1 hour per week banking online while 25% of adults said that they had to check their social networking profiles at least once per day.
O2 To Test Next Generation Mobile Broadband
O2 (o2.co.uk) is to test next generation mobile broadband, known as LTE (Long Term Evolution) within the UK by next summer.
The news comes following an announcement by O2’s parent company Telefonica that it plans to commence LTE test projects in 6 countries including the UK, Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany.
LTE next generation mobile broadband is said to offer maximum download speeds up to 340Mbps. However, these are just theoretical speeds and it is unlikely that customers will experience these maximum speeds.
The O2 LTE field test are likely be carried out by technology suppliers such as Nokia, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent.
When talking about the trials, the COO of Telefonica, Julio Linares said: “At Telefonica we are working with the conviction that we can only offer our clients the maximum levels of quality and innovation. To do this, we are defining our strategy and the rollout of LTE with the objective of driving mobile broadband”.
O2 currently offer mobile broadband speeds up to 3.6Mbps with prices starting from £9.78 a month.
3 Upgrade Broadband & Free Laptop Range
Mobile broadband provider 3 (three.co.uk) has upgraded its mobile broadband and free laptop range with the addition of the Samsung N130 netbook and the Samsung R720 laptop.
The Samsung N130 netbook has a 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM. It comes pre-installed with Windows XP Home.
The Samsung R720 laptop has a higher specification with a 320GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, 17.3″ screen and Windows Vista Home Premium included.
Prices start from just £20 per month for a bundled package that includes the free N130 laptop plus 3 Mobile Broadband speeds up to 3.6Mbps. A 1GB monthly data usage allowance applies.
A 15GB mobile broadband data usage limit is available with the Samsung R720 laptop with the bundle costing an overall £40 a month.
Both packages come with a free USB modem stick and a one year laptop warranty.
Readers can find out more at the three.co.uk website or our 3 Mobile Broadband Free Laptop review.
