Setanta’s the Home of Boxing
Setanta TV has signed up more excellent boxing matches to confirm their position as the UK’s top boxing channel :
Gavin Rees vs Andreas Kotelnik
Saturday 22nd March
Clinton Woods vs Antonio Carver
Saturday 12th April
Joe Calzaghe vs Bernard Hopkins
Saturday 19th April
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Mobile Broadband on the Rise
The upturn in sales of mobile broadband is set to make Wi Fi areas redundant, according to sources at Ericsson. In Sweden already the most popular phone is the USB Modem, whilst this year in Austria sales of mobile broadband are set to overtake the fixed broadband market. In the UK fixed broadband figures are still strong, but with prices dropping and people on the move more often, the swing in the market seems inevitable. T Mobile currently offer unlimited mobile broadband from as little as £15 a month, with a top speed of up to 1.8mps.
With big name providers such as Vodafone offering up to 7.2Meg in speed and T-Mobile offering unlimited mobile broadband, whilst both cutting their prices in half to start from just £15.00 – the UK certainly seems to be monitoring the trend in other countries by making USB broadband more affordable for the roaming user.
>> To compare best mobile broadband offers
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Tiscali contemplating sell out
Tiscali Broadband, currently the UK’s 4th biggest ISP with over two million subscribers, have announced they fully expect to sell their UK Broadband operation within two years. Having just reported their first net profit in ten years, Tiscali Broadband is currently not for sale, though they are sitting nice and ripe for a takeover. This is partly due to their current market leading TV, internet and phone bundle which cost only £19.99 a month. The last few years has seen most medium sized ISP’s such as Bulldog and Plusnet absorbed by the big boys, and chief executive Tommaso Pompei is not intending to fight the trend.
“We do expect to be part of this process. We’ll be 100% focused on our own results this year, but are preparing to react should the consolidation take place”
This comes at a time when the market is being dominated by four aggressive main players, who all have the ability to offer not just internet access, but also satellite and cable TV, landlines and mobile phones, all for one package price. BT Total Broadband and Virgin Media share over 7 million customers between them, but hot on their heel are Sky and Carphone Warehouse, who have appeared from nowhere and share nearly 4 million users, having only offered internet access in the last two years.
> > click here to see the top ten broadband providers
> > click here to sign up for Tiscali’s all in one broadband package
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Sewers to Offer up to 100Meg Broadband
New developments in internet cabling look to be getting started in September, with the UK’s sewers providing the gateway to the world wide web. The Merseyside based company H20 Network’s ethos ‘using the Past to Connect the Future’ came up with their system F.O.C.U.S (Fibre Optical Cable Underground Sewer) in 2003, and have been in discussion with councils in Northampton, Bournemouth and Dundee to see which one of the towns will be first to receive the 100mbs service. This is super fast when compared to current fastest broadband providers Be Broadband who offer 24 meg, and O2 broadband who offer 20 meg. This is particularly exciting news for Venturian Media as our Northampton service currently runs at around 4 meg, meaning will the new H20 service we would be running at 25 times our standard rate!
This environmentally friendly cabling service can be installed 80 per cent faster than traditional wiring methods. This will save the Government over £1billion a year in roadworks, plus another £4billion will be saved by cutting down traffic disruptions. Another thing that won’t be disrupted is customers connections, where 2km of cable would usually take 12 months to be laid under roads, H20 can provide the same system in 4 hours.
Managing director Elfed Thomas came up with the idea of using sewer ducts for fibre optic cables some years ago.
“We have big infrastructure problems in the UK yet we have all this piping, so I thought why can’t we use the sewers? The alternative way of laying fibre involves digging up the roads. This can be extremely disruptive, expensive and slow, with it costing between £150 and £200 per metre to dig up a road. There is also the added advantage of the new cable lying 5metres below the ground, compared with 450mm for conventional cables. The H20 system eliminates the additional connection fee telecom companies charge when adding extra bandwidth. With our cable having no restriction on bandwidth, the customer is firmly in control and has the ability to upgrade at any time without the additional cost.”
With over 360,000 miles of sewerage pipes in the UK alone, this system can cut costs nationwide. It also opens up the possibility of more fibre optic usage in the more remote parts of the country. Although people will be claiming we’ve been ‘laying cable’ in the sewers for centuries, this vast network of underground piping could not only help the people of Britain, but also the environment.
>> Check out the current top 10 Broadband Providers
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AOL Offer Non-Contract Broadband
With no contracts and no cancellation fees, AOL Broadband‘s new non contract broadband package offers you up to 8Mps downloads from just £14.99 a month. This latest broadband offer includes a FREE wireless router worth £50, with the added security of award winning 24 hour customer support service, all for one low monthly rate with an initial set up fee of just £49.99. Non contract broadband is a great way to get started with broadband as there is no long tie in to worry about, giving you the freedom to switch broadband providers whenever you want, without having to buy yourself out of a lengthy contract.
This non contract deal offers a great alternative to the outstanding AOL Broadband Wireless Plus service, which offers 8 Meg broadband with a choice of a FREE Playstation 3 or Dell Laptop, all for just £19.99 per month over a 24 month contract. These broadband and FREE computer bundles includes no connection fee, a 40GB download, a free wireless router, plus free calls to AOL’s 24 hour support service.
>> Read our Review of AOL Broadband
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Virgin sign £98m deal with BT
Virgin Media have announced the signing of a 5 year, £98milllion contract with BT Wholesale to handle and maintain their network switch to internet telephony (VoIP). The deal itself will include the transfer of nearly 200 members of Virgin Media staff to BT Wholesale, along with current Virgin third party suppliers.
Speaking for Virgin Media, managing director of networks, Paul Weir, said: “By utilising BT Wholesale we gain operational cost efficiencies ahead of the network’s eventual upgrade to Voice over Internet Protocol technology, whilst maintaining an excellent level of service for our customers.”
Virgin Media’s voice switching service currently handles around 20% of the UK’s landline phones.
> > click here sign up to Virgin Media broadband
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Tiscali Broadband Top Consumer Charts
Tiscali have moved from third to first place in the JD Power broadband consumer research report. The JD consumer report surveyed over 1,500 broadband customers, with Tiscali ranking ahead of all of their competitors in customer care, technical support, reliability and service. With Tiscali broadband offering one of the most competitive rates on the market, it’s not hard to see why their broadband, TV, and phone bundle is fast becoming the consumers brand of choice.
For as little as £19.99 per month, Tiscali offer up to 8Mb of unlimited broadband, over 70 digital Television and radio channels, including Sky One, and free national and international (to selected countries) phone calls. Included in this monthly payment, is free phone line rental, creating a saving of nearly £126 a year compared to a BT phone line. Tiscali broadband packages come with a free wireless router, anti virus and anti spam software, rounding off your COMPLETE home package at one affordable price.
> > Click here to view the top ten broadband providers
> > Click here to sign up to Tiscali broadband
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Virgin Media’s fantastic new broadband offer
Virgin Media have announced a fantastic new offer for their super fast broadband service throughout the UK. Virgin Media’s fibre optic broadband network offers speeds of up to 20Mbps, a free modem, firewall, plus anti virus software for all new customers.
These are the new highly competitive rates for broadband when taken with a home phone line (at £11 a month) including free weekend calls.
£8 L broadband when taken with a phone for the first three months, £16 thereafter
£10 XL broadband when taken with a phone for the first three months, £20 thereafter
The M broadband price when taken with a phone remains at £4.50 for 12months.
There is also fantastic new rates on stand alone broadband;
£10 M broadband for first six months, £18 thereafter
£17 L broadband for first six months, £25 thereafter
£29 XL broadband for first six months, £37 thereafter
>> To compare the top ten broadband providers click here
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
3 Mobile Broadband – FREE Modems
Great news for all prospective mobile broadband users - from 1st March Three Mobile have reduced the prices of Mobile Broadband USB Modems across the board! If you sign up with 3 Mobile Broadband you now get a FREE modem on all but their lowest Mobile Broadband tariff.
Check out the price changes below :
Three Mobile offers you broadband on the move using the 3G network. With broadband from £10 a month this offers an affordable alternative to traditional broadband packages – especially if you travel a lot. All you need to do is plug the usb modem into you laptop or computer and you are online! It really is that easy.
With competitors T-Mobile Web’n'walk unlimited mobile broadband and Vodafone broadband slashing their prices there has never been a better time to get mobile with your broadband connection.
>> Sign up for 3 mobile broadband from £10 a month
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting
Battle of Britain Exclusive to Setanta Sports – Enzo Maccarinelli and David Haye on March 8th
The much hyped boxing match between Enzo Maccarinelli and David Haye daubed the Battle of Britain is this Saturday night (March 8th) and exclusively live on Setanta Sports. This is one of the biggest fight in the UK this year and you can sign up for £9.99 a month. and watch it from the comfort of your armchair with Setanta Sports.
Not only do you get the main event but you also get all the build up on the night itself and their are some other great fights on the card - again all exclusive to Setanta:
- Carl Johanneson v Kevin Mitchell (The British and Commonwealth Super-Featherweight Championship)
- Paul Smith v Cello Renda (Middleweight Championship of England)
- Souleymayne M’Baye v Jose Soto (International Live Welter-weight contest)
Setanta Sports is available to anyone who can get FREEView, or Sky TV, Virgin Media TV or Tiscali TV etc and is non contract so you can cancel your subscription at any time and only pay for the months you use – there is no cancellation fee!
>> Read our Setanta Sports Review
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting