I’ve reposted this because the new rates hit the Web in the UK, yesterday.
Europe’s top cell phone retailer Carphone Warehouse could announce the nation’s first free broadband offer when it lifts the wraps on its keenly-awaited broadband strategy [this week] analysts and investors say.
The independent mobile retailer with a growing suite of telecoms services has become a formidable force in the country’s fixed-line phone market, and announced its intention to target the market for high-speed Web connections last November.
“We think free broadband is on the way, pioneered by Carphone,” Merrill Lynch analysts said in a research note last week.
Existing broadband offers in the country cost around 17.99 pounds [$31.58] a month, with customers paying extra for line rental and for each call.
Analysts said Carphone, which has announced plans to install equipment in some 1,000 telephone exchanges by 2008 to cut its dependence on former monopoly BT, could bundle these services, offering just one bill to customers and potentially sharply cutting their cost.
Congress and the FCC would make this illegal so fast your head would spin.
Update: For less than $34/month, Carphone customers will get free local and national calls within the UK; free landline calls to 28 foreign countries including Australia and the US; as well as up to 8Mbps broadband.. Their website — talktalk — was knocked off by the demand. They hope to have more servers up by Wednesday.
This is an interesting story and I’m keenly following it as I live in the UK and currently pay £24 a month for capped, slow broadband. If they can indeed offer a free service, I think it will be heavily capped and probably no faster than 8mbs with a low upstream. Maybe not though. In Hong Kong they sell HK$148 (US$19) for 10 Mbps symmetric capacity and HK$268 (US$34) for 100 Mbps symmetric capacity. They have even just launched a 1gps service! However it is far from free at $215 dollars a month!
I think this announcement needs to be treated with extreme caution.
Carphone Warehouse are only “considering” this at the moment, and I would imagine, as previously posted, that if this does go ahead it will be severely restricted in some way, either in terms of speed or downloads.
We already have to contend with sharks in the UK offering cheap 8mb connections but which, when you get to the small print, only allow you 1GB of downloads per month (i.e you could use up your monthly allowance in the first half an hour… and if that’s not taking advantage of the clueless/ignorant, I don’t know what is – b**tards)
I have no idea what they’ll offer; but, their website says, “tomorrow”. That’s Tuesday.
I get a “discounted” rate for cable broadband at $45/month after taxes. That’s 8mbps max, usually running at 4-5mbps download. True, there’s no “official” limit — though, I imagine if I was downloading dl.tv or crankygeeks a couple times/daym they’d keep an eye on me.
And that’s faster than the average civilian, here in the States. DSL runs ab’t 1mbps.
“For less than $34/month…”
What was free again?
It’s not bad, much better than i expected! upto 8mbs and 40g download cap. it easily beats the crummy BT service i’m paying £25 a month for: 2mbs and 20g download cap. i think ill be changing providers quite soon…
Axe, you have to take out their ‘international’ phone package to qualify, gotta make money somehow haven’t they, no such thing as a free lunch (unless you steal it!).
Try reading the linked articles, axe.