The Big Broadband Rip-Off

Broadband is carried through fibre optic cables, but are consumers paying over the odds?

You know the story, you sign up for a broadband package expecting to get the advertised download speed- only to find you are getting sometimes less than one eighth. When you complain, you are pointed to a section in the small print that states ‘the advertised speed is a maximum estimate and different areas may experience varying download speeds’.

I did a quick search of broadband prices in my area, assuming a required download speed of 8mb or over and an unlimited downloads package. The variance in prices is staggering.

Tiscali: £4.49 per month then,

• £4.49 for the first 3 months then £12.99 thereafter
• Up to 8Mb, unlimited downloads, free wireless router and set up.
• Free calls to UK landlines starting with 01 & 02 at weekends.
• Easy to use, fast speed.
• BT line rental fee not included, speed throttled past fair use cap.

O2 Fast Actual Broadband: £7.50 per month,

• Up to 8Mb, unlimited* downloads, (fair use) free wireless router.
• Offer available to all o2 customers including PAYG.
• Fantastic value if a current O2 customer and free router.
• Line rental not included.

Sky: £10.00 per month,

• Up to 16Mb, unlimited downloads, free wireless router.
• Broadband for existing Sky customers, free wireless router.
• BT line rental not included, must use modem supplied by Sky.

Virgin: £16.00 per month,

• Up to 10Mb, unlimited* cap, free wireless router, PCguard Total.
• No download limit & free wireless router. No landline required.
• £25 set up fee, non Direct Debit charge £5 a month.

BT:

• £18.99 per month for first 3 months, then £24.99 thereafter
• Up to 8 MB, unlimited cap, free BT Hub, phone, Norton security package.
• Free evening/weekend calls, free wi-fi minutes per month.
• Package worth over £340, full of features, one monthly bill.
• 18 month contract, BT line rental fee not included.

</p> We need to ask ourselves WHAT are we actually paying for, rather than blindly handing over money to a big company- skinning ourselves to the bone, when another company can do it for a quarter of the price.

For example, in the last few months I changed over from BT to Sky. With BT, I was paying £27.99 per month

The old war of consumers vs profits continues

for Broadband, £11 line rental, VAT and a surcharge for not paying direct debit. Even though my call charges for a whole 3 months was only £17-19.00 on average, my bill was £140 +.

Now I am with Sky, i pay £15 for my line rental and calls, £10 for my broadband and thats it. Thats less per month, for everything, than I was paying for just my BT broadband package.

BT have announced it has missed its quarterly targets for new customers. I’m not surprised. Who KNOWS why anyone would consider paying exorbitant prices for what, essentially, can be obtained free in any cafe or wifi zone these days.