Broadband News & Mobile Broadband News

O2 has today launched a new technical support helpline, known as ‘O2 Tech Support’ for its home and mobile broadband customers.

The new pay monthly service gives customers advice on not only broadband issues, but also on problems such as how to remove a virus from your computer or how to set up a home cinema system.

The service is a full technical helpline and not just its existing broadband helpline that O2 will continue to run for free.

The service will cost users £7.34 per month. The Head of Pay Monthly, Jonathan Earle 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”.

Earle also mentioned the “No Fix No Fee“ guarantee, he said, “Customers want a one stop shop where they can buy a product, get support, advice and a fix if things go wrong. That is what O2 tech support will provide. In addition as a guarantee if we can’t fix it we won’t charge the customer”.

In a nutshell, O2’s new chargeable technical support service is for additional help beyond their standard customer service. It will give advice and solutions to a variety of technical issues that can commonly occur.

Further information on O2 Tech Support can be found here.

3 has today added three more laptops to its range of mobile broadband and free laptop packages.

The laptops added are the free Samsung NC10 netbook, the Acer 751 notebook and the Samsung R519.

The Samsung NC10 netbook is a fantastic new light weight netbook which has the added benefit of an extended battery life.

The netbook has an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, 10″ WSVGA LED display and Microsoft Windows XP Home.

Retailing in the shops at £300, the Samsung NC10 is free as part of a 3 mobile broadband and free laptop plan that costs £30 a month over an 18 month contract period.

For this, customers will have UK access to 3 mobile broadband speeds up to 3.6Mb together with a 5GB monthly data allowance. 3 will also supply a free ZTE MF627 USB modem stick and the free NC10 laptop. A 14 day money back guarantee is available.

The 5GB data allowance each month means users can send 5,000 emails a month, surf the web for 50 hours, download 25 four minute videos and download 160 four minute music tracks.

Readers wanting further information on 3’s mobile broadband and free laptop packages can find out more at the three.co.uk website.

A useful comparison of mobile broadband & free laptop deals from 3, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone and O2 can be found here.

Virgin Media has introduced super-fast fibre optic broadband speeds of up to 50Mbps in Whitchurch.

The new 50Mbps service will enable users to download complete albums in as little as 11 seconds and high quality full length movies in just 3 minutes.

85% of Whitchurch broadband users log on to the internet every single day. 74% of Whitchurch households also have more than one computer and share their broadband connections with consoles too.

It is these households that will really notice the difference. Even in homes where there are several people using the internet at the same time, they will still receive a fast, reliable connection from Virgin Media’s 50Mbps fibre optic broadband service.

The Executive Director of Broadband at Virgin Media, Jon James, said, “Our 50Mb service will transform the online experience for individuals and families alike”.

James continued, “The new 50Mb service in Whitchurch will allow family members to experience ultra fast broadband at the same time - regardless of how many laptops or consoles they own, and to enjoy the ultimate online TV, music and film experience”.

The Virgin Media 50Mb broadband package costs £35 per month when taken with Virgin Media phone line rental.

Further information can be found at the VirginMedia.com website or at our Virgin Media Broadband package review.

Award winning broadband supplier O2 has launched a 2 months free home broadband offer across all its packages.

Available to new customers and existing O2 mobile phone customers, the offer equates to a saving up to £44 depending upon which package a users chooses.

O2 has four home broadband packages called Standard, Premium, Pro and Access. Each is available on a 12 month contract.

Monthly prices start from £7.34 a month for O2 Broadband Standard which provides download speeds up to 8Mbps, coupled with an unlimited monthly usage allowance.

Free connection, free UK customer service, a free wireless router and free McAfee security software are just a few of the additional benefits included in each O2 Home Broadband package.

O2’s 2 months free home broadband offer is available until the end of July. Interested readers can find out more at the O2.co.uk website.

They can also read our review of O2 Home Broadband here.

The Carphone Warehouse has today been given approval by EU authorities to proceed with its £236 million takeover of broadband provider Tiscali UK.

The EU were looking to see if the acquisition would damage competition within the UK’s broadband sector.

However, it was found that while the Carphone Warehouse is set to become the UK’s largest broadband provider with over 4.25 million customers, it will still face hefty competition from company’s such as BT and Virgin Media - not too mention the UK’s mobile broadband providers.

An EU executive said, “The Commissions’ examination of the proposed transaction showed that none of the above markets would give rise to competition concerns.”

“The new entity will continue to face competition from a number of strong players, especially BT, as well as from a number of strong alternative operators, including those based on the cable platform”.

Tiscali still operates in Italy and other parts of the world and will use the proceeds of the sale to restructure its debt mountain.

The Carphone Warehouse will move Tiscali UK into its de-merged broadband business which includes TalkTalk Broadband and AOL Broadband.