Has Anyone Noticed Broadband Prices Have Come Down?

SpellowHouse

SpellowHouse

SpellowHouse

Soldato
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Now and then I check new broadband package prices, and I was really surprised that Zen have done it again. They have significantly reduced prices without telling me, lol.
Many of the original packages have been scrapped and there are new cheaper packages that are offering about 40% more bandwidth for the same price as the old packages.
When did this happen?
And has it happened to other suppliers?
I seem to think that IDNET is a lot cheaper than it used to be or is that my imagination?
 
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Stuck in an awful bt contract for another 6 months or so, then it's switching time, they've had a monopoly and ripped me off for too long. Altnets are here now.
 
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dlockers said:
Yep- dirt cheap now, especially per "Mbit".
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It's about time. I have always felt that it was over-priced. It's much more reasonable now. I mean I know that fibre is better than vdsl, but not to the point where it should be so much more expensive. Most families don't need more than 100mbps. Anything more is nice, but not essential, and certainly not if they are going to charge an arm and a leg for it.

Right now I got a cheap deal from Zen for 300mbps. £32 incl. I am not about to change that until they force me to, or the price of 500mbps comes down a bit further!
 
throwaway4372 said:
Stuck in an awful bt contract for another 6 months or so, then it's switching time, they've had a monopoly and ripped me off for too long. Altnets are here now.
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Why not just shift deal for another two years? Companies usually allow you to do that without penalty, as long as you stay with them. Their 500mbps is £34.99 at the moment, which is pretty good.
 
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SpellowHouse said:
Why not just shift deal for another two years? Companies usually allow you to do that without penalty, as long as you stay with them. Their 500mbps is £34.99 at the moment, which is pretty good.
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Never heard of bt agreeing to that. I've asked them before when current deals were better than my contract and they say better deals are new customers only. If I look at switching online it only presents more expensive packages.
 
I hate BT with a passion, actually got one over on then last time I was on the 500mb near the end and wanted to drop down to 150 or 300 to save a bit but agree to another 24 months. No chance they said, so I pulled the Universal Credit card and got them to move me into the 76mb for £20. Then left after 12 months.

Twice they have also tried to charge me for non return of the router when I have evidence they signed for it. Never again.
I wish we had some alt nets here it's virgin of Openreach.
I'm with Aquiss now, wish more have you the option of not having a router.
 
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throwaway4372 said:
Never heard of bt agreeing to that. I've asked them before when current deals were better than my contract and they say better deals are new customers only. If I look at switching online it only presents more expensive packages.
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Really? That's terrible.
I know that I have changed packages with Zen before they are up, and they don't mind as long as you are paying more and agreeing to a new contract. And if you want something cheaper you just need to tell them that you want to know when the contract is up so you can leave, and they might reduce the monthly.

robj20 said:
I hate BT with a passion, actually got one over on then last time I was on the 500mb near the end and wanted to drop down to 150 or 300 to save a bit but agree to another 24 months. No chance they said, so I pulled the Universal Credit card and got them to move me into the 76mb for £20. Then left after 12 months.

Twice they have also tried to charge me for non return of the router when I have evidence they signed for it. Never again.
I wish we had some alt nets here it's virgin of Openreach.
I'm with Aquiss now, wish more have you the option of not having a router.
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Yes. Handling customers like this is a seriously bad idea. They are more likely to just leave when the contract is up.

I like that with Zen, that you aren't forced in to their router (unless you get their VOIP).

I have a good deal with Zen at the moment but Zen never inform customers when there are better options, which is why I keep an eye on prices. When their contract runs out it just keeps going at the same service for the same money. As soon as something better is available that is similar in price to what I have right now, then I will sign up for a new contract or move to Aquiss. Aquiss are a little more expensive, hopefully worth it.

I just looked it up and my contract is up in Feb. I assume that's something new for March. I'm just holding my breath to see what they do at the end of Feb. Whether they abandon my special price or put the price up. I can tell you that if the price had come down they would just let me keep on paying the higher price. It will be interesting to see if the do the same for my very low monthly or whether they try to increase it. I am honestly not sure what I will do if they change it.
 
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One thing I noticed, is that prices do vary significantly according to location. My old house is £10 a month cheaper for the same service. Perhaps this is Openreach being expensive?
 
I’m paying £15/month for 1000/1000 until December 2025, £30 there after for another year.

I live in the back end of nowhere and have the choice of 2 alt nets at up to 2000/2000 and BT at up to 900/300. The alt nets are cheaper than BT across the board.
 
Not on CF, I joined a CF ISP on 900/900 for £29/m roughly 13 months ago, got migrated to 1.2/1 at no extra charge, today's new customer price on 1.2/1 is £39, if I went to IDNet that's £48/m or Aquiss at £45/m. That said, we're about one more duck up away from me ditching said deal (price is fixed for 3yrs) as i'd rather pay more for less drama.
 
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Altnet’s have really helped drive competition from the big boys and Openreach’s expensive monopoly network.

I’m on 1Gb symmetrical for 18 months now; first 6 months were 99p and now I pay £29pm for the remainder of the contract.
 
Sparx said:
.. Openreach’s expensive monopoly network.
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OpenReach - BT - All the same word, all the same rip-off policy. I go back a long way with BT and they have always been the same. They charge what they can, not what's reasonable.

robj20 said:
I hate BT with a passion..
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Same here. I remember the days when my phone bill was £900 a month. Calls to foreign countries cost pounds per minute while calls from those countries to the UK cost pennies.
The problem with BT is that it operated as the sole UK communications company for far too long. It built a structure that basically charged whatever the hell it wanted.
Anyone else remember DABS.COM? That fantastic IT company that dominated PC parts sales back in the day? BT took it over, applied their huge marketing expertise, and trashed it overnight. Never seen a company fail so fast. I guess we have them to thank for the likes of OCUK though, who probably wouldn't be so big today if BT hadn't Titanic'd DABS.
And the problem with OpenReach is that it's the son of BT.
 
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Reality = BT Openreach is still cheaper than many comparable countries where prices are not regulated and there are actually proper monopolies.

Have a look at internet and cellular prices in America, then look at their data caps on land based fibre connections. .
 
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SpellowHouse said:
Aquiss seems to be very out of date with their pricing. They are still charging last years prices.
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Martin is selling a niche product, and realistically, he's the product. If you've chosen him, you've likely done so because you value direct access to a level of technical knowledge, flexibility and support that simply isn't found in most consumer ISP's on the front line, and rarely on the second line. If you want cheap, brave Vodafone or TalkTalk, there are very obvious reasons why that's a horrible idea, yet lots of people do it and find it acceptable.
 
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