Blogs - O2

Wednesday, March 3rd 2010

When it comes to broadband speeds, no one could deny that Virgin Media has had a major hand in upping the UK average. The company has a long history of topping speed tests and has continued the trend this month in the latest Cable.co.uk figures for February.

With an average speed of 8.4Mbps, Virgin Media is comfortably setting the pace when it comes to connections, with rival bundle provider Sky lagging behind by a whole 1Mbps.

Orange came third with an average connection speed of 6Mbps, while O2 and Be's shared infrastructure generated a figure of 5.6Mbps.

BT completed the top five with an average of 4.1Mbps, but there is little doubt where the power lies when it comes to speed in the UK.

Tuesday, December 22nd 2009

With Christmas fast approaching, a quick walk down the high street is likely to bring a sackful of savings and special offers to your attention. The same can be said of broadband at the moment, but be warned – a few top deals are set to expire over the festive period.

Yesterday (December 21st) saw the end of Sky's offer of a £50 Marks & Spencer voucher with its digital TV packages, while consumers have until the end of today to buy a pre-pay mobile broadband dongle from O2 at half price for just £14.67.

In addition, customers can get 12 months on Be Value's package at £6.75 a month if they enter the code 'halfprice' when signing up to the company online.

Monday, November 16th 2009

When it comes to legally downloading music online, it is safe to say that iTunes has a major influence. However, broadband provider Sky has shown its intentions to break Apple's monopoly with its own new service.

While Sky Songs was originally launched last month, the company has today commenced its first promotional push for the download and streaming platform by offer readers of The Sun the chance to get hold of an album or ten individual songs for no charge.

People who buy the newspaper this week need to collect three special codes to take advantage of the offer, which could be a 'make or break' moment for the service.

Wednesday, October 7th 2009

The great debate over how to tackle illegal filesharing has raged on now for what seems like an eternity. However, could O2's new traffic management become one way for providers to stop people from using such services?

Under new plans, the company is to limit the bandwidth available to traffic moving between P2P systems such BitTorrent in an effort to ensure all of its fixed broadband customers receive a good service.

While the restriction is only currently in place for three hours – or more precisely, between 20:00 and 23:00 BST – it will improve the speeds available to those who just want to check emails or browse websites rather than download films or music.

Monday, August 24th 2009

At the end of last month, figures from Consumer Direct suggested that broadband providers have finally turned a corner in terms of customer satisfaction.

While it was found that the number of complaints received by the body concerning broadband had dropped, a new poll has suggested that we should not take the findings as a sign that providers have upped their game.

The survey by Which? signaled great news for the likes of O2 and Be, which both scored over 80 per cent in terms of customer satisfaction, according to the Daily Telegraph's report.

Friday, August 7th 2009

The leading players in the UK broadband market are all jostling for position, which has resulted in three of them unveiling new tariffs to entice consumers.

Orange was first out of the blocks this week, launching a new mobile broadband tariff which allows users to surf the web using a dongle for under a fiver a month.

Although a limited 500 Mb per month data usage comes with the tariff, could this be seen as a perfect budget choice for people who just want to browse the web and don't intend to download vast amounts of music or movies?

Industry rival BT has unveiled a new offer to win over new customers either looking to take out a broadband deal or switch provider.

Friday, July 3rd 2009

Technically-challenged broadband customers and people who want to make sure they get the most from a service may be pleased to hear that O2 has launched a new chargeable tech support service.

Covering mobile broadband, home broadband and laptop related issues, the O2 Tech Support costs £7.34 a month or £14.69 on a pay-as-you-use service.

Jonathan Earle, head of pay monthly at O2, said: "We have listened to what our customers have asked for and believe that O2 Tech Support will differentiate us in this market. All our broadband customers will continue to get free advice for everything that relates to their O2 service, such as their router, modem or our network.

Thursday, June 11th 2009

Do the UK's mobile broadband providers need to up their game in terms of connection speed? New research has suggested that could well be the case.

The study by Epitiro saw services from leading operators including 3, O2, Orange and T-Mobile tested on a range of activities that web users get up to, including downloading music, general surfing and internet gaming.

It found that consumers with dongles only receive 24 per cent of the advertised download speed from many providers, with the average rate not even reaching 1Mbps.

The research also revealed that web browsing was 34 per cent slower than on equivalent fixed line services.

Tuesday, June 2nd 2009

While we all often get frustrated when our internet takes an age to load one page, new figures have suggested that the speed of household connections has never been better.

The study by Broadband.co.uk has revealed that the average speed available during May was 4.25Mbps, which is a small increase on the figure recorded for the previous month.

Virgin Media was found to be the top-performing provider overall, with a download speed of 5.87Mbps. The news comes less than a week after the company's mobile broadband was praised in a study by Broadband Genie.

Thursday, May 28th 2009

Mobile broadband connections are becoming increasingly popular with consumers in the UK, but new research has attempted to highlight the best connections available to those who are regularly on the move.

In the test, Broadband Genie used USB dongles from six of the leading mobile web providers and travelled on trains between Cambridge and Bournemouth to see how connections held up.

The providers that offered both the best coverage and were top for downloading content were Virgin Media and Vodafone, while the latter was also one of the most suited to uploading alongside O2.

Tuesday, May 19th 2009

We probably all have an opinion on which broadband provider is the best, but a major awards ceremony taking place later this year is hoping to end all arguments.

The UK Internet Service Providers Association has announced the shortlist for its 11th UK Internet Industry Awards for 2009 and a number of the leading players in the market have been given nods.

Orange dominated with four nominations, in the Best Consumer Fixed Broadband, Best Consumer Mobile Broadband, Best Business Mobile Broadband and Corporate Social Responsibility categories respectively.

Following closely behind is Virgin Media, which is up for three gongs including Best Consumer Customer Service, while O2 also gets a mention in two sections.

Friday, May 8th 2009

Are you aware of your rights as a subscriber to broadband services? While the answer may more than likely be no, it does not necessarily mean that you should start panicking.

This is because the European Union has announced plans to publish new telecoms rules that clarify such issues, particularly the rights that consumers have when signing up to contracts with internet providers.

According to Reuters, new regulations will also call on web-based firms to highlight to consumers when a cookie file, which highlights customised information, is placed on their PC or laptop.

Tuesday, May 5th 2009

Could Virgin Media be about to open its fibre-optic network up to some of its biggest rivals in the home broadband market? The Guardian appears to think so.

According to the newspaper, the broadband and TV provider believes it could rival BT's existing Openreach network by offering the likes of Tiscali, Sky and O2 a chance to use its existing infrastructure for a fee.

The company also seemingly thinks the move will boost its income, cut costs for consumers and ensure that regulatory bodies do not accuse it of anti-competitive behaviour by keeping access to the network closed.

Wednesday, April 1st 2009

Not content with offering some of the fastest and best value broadband packages on the market, O2 are now offering the first 3 months free on Premium and Pro broadband. As a result, customers taking Premium broadband will save £29.37 and a whopping £51.39 for Pro broadband. O2 Premium broadband is priced at a competitive £9.79 for O2 pay monthly mobile customers and includes a free O2 wireless router and free connection. O2 Pro broadband comes in slightly higher at £17.13 for O2 pay monthly mobile customers but comes with an enhanced O2 wireless router and prioritised customer service. Premium and Pro broadband packages serve up to 20Mb download speeds with unlimited usage and free UK customer service.

Friday, March 20th 2009

O2 has entered the mobile broadband and laptops market with a range of Samsung laptops. O2's laptop packages are aimed at users on the go and the higher-end desktop users. First up is an ultra-portable Samsung NC10 Mini-Laptop with a 10.2" widescreen display, 1GB memory and impressive 160GB hard drive. If you're looking for more power and a bigger screen, the Samsung R510 2GB with a 15.4" WXGA widescreen display, 2GB memory, 160GB hard drive and Intel Pentium Dual Core processor is ideal for data hungry applications and watching movies. The final laptop on offer is the Samsung R510 3GB is identical to the above laptop except you get 3GB memory although there is an additional one-off £78.29 to pay.