 |  | By Neil Hawkins Senior Staff Writer Friday, 16 May 2008 |
HELLO! I’m back this week and the weather is now gray, not sure what that means but I do bring good news for those of you looking to get a great deal on a broadband and phone bundle instead!
STOP PRESS! Virgin Media launches stupednous 5 day bundle package
JUST as the weather takes a turn for the worse, Virgin Media has launched a 5-day, ice-lolly themed broadband bundle package that has blown our socks off in the good value department.
For 5 days only starting... NOW!, you can get broadband, television and off peak home phone calls for a recession-busting £20 a month in the form of the Virgin Media 5 Day Hot Deal package.
When we first heard of this we thought it was too good to be true, and while the £20 price is just an introductory rate, it only goes up to £23.45 after 6 months.
We don't like blowing anyone's horn, but this Virgin Media bundle is too good to pass up if you are in the market for a bundle broadband package.
To put it in perspective, Virgin Media's other broadband, TV and home phone package is their much vaunted 3 for £30 package. While the TV package on this '5 day hot deal' is size M and on 3 for £30 it is Size L, the phone package here offers free evening calls, which the other doesnt.
So by sacrificing half your TV channels, you're getting free evening phonecalls and a saving of over £100 in the first year.
Now that'll please your credit card provider!
O2 Broadband strides on and on
LAST week Bruce Stevens brought you news of O2 Broadband services expansion to the whole of the UK and the launch of its multi-million pound marketing campaign.
Well, the results of this rollout are likely to be beyond the expectations of O2 bigwigs as parent company Telefonica released its latest results.
By the end of March O2 Broadband had 131,420 customers, an increase of 60,711 on the previous quarter and with little media attention.
The strength of the O2 Broadband offer is its best asset and this shows in the broadband-baby’s growth.
O2 Broadband use an ADSL2+ network to deliver speeds of up to 20 Meg and is known for its relaxed attitude to heavy downloaders.
Rivals such as BT are only just starting to upgrade networks to match the speeds that O2 Broadband can achieve.
Add this to the low cost of O2 Broadband (plus a hefty discount for O2 mobile users) and you get a winning package!
You can compare O2 Broadband's deals on our handy comparison page.
TalkTalk offer 3 Months half price
ANYONE thinking of switching their broadband to a cheaper deal should take a look at this latest offer from "free" broadband provider TalkTalk.
TalkTalk is offering 3 months half price on any of their already cheap broadband and phone bundles.
It’s highly popular Talk International Evening and Weekend (£16.39 p/m) or Talk International Anytime (£20.40 p/m) packages both include line rental and represent great value for money.
It’s broadband service is included in these prices and offer’s an up to 8 Meg service with a tres grand 40 GB download allowance each month.
A big increase in their customer service performance (let’s face it, it couldn’t have got any worse), means that they’re no longer bargepole material.
In any case, TalkTalk’s packages now come with a 30 day cooling-off period which is a sure sign that they are fully confident in the quality of the service they’ll be giving you.
If however it isn’t up to scratch then simply leave and it’ll cost you nothing, nil, zip.
Compare TalkTalk's broadband bundles on our TalkTalk page but hurry the offer ends on 23rd May!
Broadband users shun Phorm
CONTROVERSIAL advertisers Phorm have suffered another public relations setback after a survey revealed that 56.6% of respondents would rather leave their broadband supplier than have their internet traffic monitored by the system.
The Phorm system works by tracking the websites you visit and targets adverts according to your browsing history.
Sounds good in practice, i.e. no more annoyingly pointless adverts, but most people either don’t like the idea on privacy grounds or simply don’t know about it, a quarter responded by saying ‘What is Phorm?’
BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk are in talks with Phorm about utilising the system although customer concerns are throwing doubt onto the rollout.
ISPreview polled 1098 visitors to its site.
Spam, spam, spam, more spam and a huge payout.
IN true American style a Los Angeles court has awarded MySpace a ridiculously large payout against two spammers who flooded users inboxes for many years.
“Spam Kings”, Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines have been ordered to pay $234 million, yes that’s $234,000,000 for sending 735,925 spam emails to MySpace users via a network of fake or hijacked accounts.
If you do the maths, and sadly I have, that’s a hefty $318 per message, which judging by my inbox means only one thing, I’m off to Switzerland.
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