O2 Phone Recycle Hit the Million Pound Mark for Cash Payouts
In the 5 months since its launch, O2′s mobile phone recycling service has generated an amazing £1 million in cash payouts for customers. The eco-friendly system was devised to make it easier for O2 customers and other mobile users to recycle their handsets in the correct and earn a little cash back in return. Products that can be recycled include -
- Mobile phones
- Laptops
- Sat Navs
- Digital Cameras
- MP3 Players
With up to 90 million handsets gathering dust across the UK, this scheme is a great way to earn a bit of pocket money whilst disposing of your electrical equipment in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. By aiming to re-use many of the unwanted devices and recycling those that are surplus to requirements, O2 will not only be helping the environment, but also donating £1 for every recycled device to its ‘Think Big’ social change programme.
> > Click here for more information on O2 Recycle
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Eclipse Broadband Great New Pricing Structure and Usage Allowance
Eclipse broadband has just changed their pricing across the board on their award winning internet service, and it looks like great news for prospective and current customers who demand the best at a price that’s right. The prices below are for new customers who sign up to Eclipse, but can also be obtained by existing subscribers who upgrade their package on a new 12 month contract. The original LITE package is slightly cheaper at £11.95 a month and still offers 2GB of usage, but you can now receive -
SELECT – was 10GB NOW 50GB – £19.95
- Free connection optimisation
- Free router (worth £25)
- Free PC back up (worth £55)
PRO – was 50GB NOW 100GB – £29.95
- Free connection optimisation
- Free wireless router (worth £60)
- Free PC back up (worth £55)
- Free phone calls (worth £70)
Eclipse internet is easy to switch to, has a fast and reliable service of up to 24Mbps, plus 100% UK based support experts who will be able to answer all your questions and queries with the minimum of hassle. So why not switch to Eclipse today and enjoy up to £185 worth of free goodies to compliment one of the best services available on the market today.
> > Click here to order Eclipse Internet today
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Virgin Media Launch New HD Channels
Virgin Media TV is absolutely offer the moon to announce the launch of two great new HD channels for those that enjoy football and films. With the World Cup fast approaching, as of April 2nd 2010 you will be able to receive ITV1 HD, which is perfect for the Champions League latter stages, the FA Cup, and of course the little matter of the World Cup that kicks off in June. I for one am looking forward to watching all the fun with a cold can in HD, unfortunately I’m not so looking forward to England getting knocked out in the quarters finals (again!).
ITV Director of Television, Channels and Online, Peter Fincham, said -
The availability of High Definition content is something viewers have come to expect as standard and, as we approach the 2010 World Cup, I’m delighted that we are able to launch our new channel, ITV1 HD, on Virgin Media. All of our output will benefit from the stunning picture quality that High Definition offers, whether it’s ITV’s original drama, landmark factual shows, entertainment events or our live football.
Alongside this great news, Virgin Media has also announced the upcoming launch of Film4 HD and E4 HD. This is great news not just for the lover of films, but also those cool cats who enjoy the likes of Skins and The Inbetweeners. Film4 has long been held in high regard by movie buffs around the country for not being afraid to show independent and foreign films alongside the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and now all available in glorious high definition.
Executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, said -
Channel 4 has a great track record in delivering innovative and compelling content and we’re delighted to bring some of their very best films and most popular programmes to our customers in stunning HD. As more and more households become HD-ready, we’re lining up content that makes the most of High Definition and are making HD available to all our of customers for no extra fee.
Virgin Media already carries several hundred hours of HD programmes on demand, from popular films to whole back catalogues of drama, plus the BBC iPlayer HD. It looks like the latest installment in their choice of HD channels is going to have even more customers flocking to order.
> > Click here to order Virgin Media TV today
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Virgin Media to Trial Ultrafast Broadband in Woolhampton, Berkshire
The Berkshire village of Woolhampton has been chosen by Virgin Media broadband to trial their pioneering new service which will be delivered using telephone poles. By connecting the village’s homes directly to their fibre optic network, Virgin Media will be increasing broadband speeds to the rural community ten times faster than the previously relied upon copper network. Alongside this ultrafast broadband, the villagers of Woolhampton will also be offered the Virgin Media cable TV service which includes 5,000 hours of catch up TV and on demand content alongside the usual popular channels.
The trial is scheduled to run for six months and is part of Virgin Media’s plan to bring next generation services to people who live beyond the reach of their fibre optic network. Virgin Media is also planning to extend it’s network to more than 1million more homes through the deployment of their award winning service via the new telegraph pole system.
Chief executive officer of Virgin Media, Neil Berkett, said -
This unique trial will allow us to understand the possibilities of aerial deployment and may provide an exciting new way to extend next generation broadband services. With everything from BBC iPlayer to YouTube increasingly demanding reliable ultrafast broadband speeds, we’re keen to ensure that all communities, in towns, cities and villages right across the UK, stand to benefit.
With Virgin Media’s extensive network already reaching 12.6 million homes in the UK, this old school method of data transfer could be the perfect transport system to reach those parts that the fibre optic cable cannot. Thanks to years of telecommunications via telephone poles across the country, this is a fantastic way to ensure that more homes across the UK are given the opportunity to enjoy Virgin Media’s ultra fast service, and not just those who live in built up towns and cities. The trial will start this month and if successful could see up to one million extra homes benefiting from speeds of up to 100Mb.
> > Click here to order Virgin Media broadband
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All Change for the Better with O2 Mobile Broadband
O2 Mobile Broadband are making major changes to their tariffs to give their valued customers even more value for money on what is already one of the most competitive on the market today. Thanks to extensive customer surveys and feedback, O2 has flipped the script on a few things to tailor their tariffs to cater for what their customers require. These changes include -
- Half price dongles only £10 until 31st March 2010
- First 3 MONTHS FREE on all 18 month contracts
- Reduced average cost per MB to just 2.4p
- 24 month contracts only with laptop deals
These changes are being put into place thanks to O2 mobile broadband really listening to their customers, as they’re the ones that pay the bill, they get to have their say too. O2 have done away with the 24 month non laptop deals to allow consumers more flexibility and control over their contracts, and with 3 months free on every 18 month deal, now is a great time to order your mobile broadband with O2.
> > Click here to order O2 mobile broadband
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What Internet Speed Do You Need?
You may have the fastest internet connection in the world, but you should also be aware of what your download limit is. Now in some countries, this is explicit. That is to say that when you sign up for internet services, the ISP will give you a data transfer allowance.
That means that only a certain amount of data can be downloaded for the monthly fee you pay to your ISP, beyond that, the ISP will charge for every megabyte downloaded..
In the UK Fixed line ISP’s generally have no explicit data transfer limits, but do monitor usage, and for those who download a lot of data or are hogging bandwidth, their speeds tend to get choked by the ISP. If you are accessing the internet from a mobile device, then it is more than likely that your provider will have some data transfer limits.
So what speed do you need? well that really depends on the kind of internet usage you expect to engage in, below is a rough guide to speeds and what certain speeds would be most suitable for.
512 kbit/s
Most ISP’s will have a 512 kilobit per second service. This may be fairly slow, and some people may wonder what is the point. If you rarely use the internet and just check emails occasionally, then this type of connection is more than adequate.
If you want to do more than that, for example listen to music or watch video, you will need a faster connection.
More importantly it is really cheap, and I personally have a spare 512 kilobit per second connection from another ISP as backup, just in case my main internet connection ever goes down (which happens more often than I would like unfortunately)
One to Two Megabits/s
This speed is common in many homes and small businesses; however the average speed of connection to the internet is getting faster by the day.
An internet connection of this speed is pretty much good enough to do most things on the internet, from just general surfing, to posting on Facebook, reading the news, and streaming music or video.
At its fastest it takes about 40 seconds to download a 5 minute long song.
Eight to Twenty Four Megabit/s +
Many would argue that a lightning fast connection will mean that loading web pages, even the most content heavy ones will be instantaneous, as will downloading audio and video.
The truth is and I speak from experience, you cannot really tell there is that much difference between a one or 2 Mbps connection, because no matter how fast you can download, you are still at the mercy of the speed of the source that you are downloading from.
If for example you download a video from a site, that only uploads a single file at 2 Mbps, then that is the fastest download you are going to get for that file, no matter how fast your internet connection is.
To make full use of your bandwidth you will need to download multiple files, and only then will you utilize the speeds you have available.
So if you are doing a ton of file sharing, are heavy on the game play, or heaven forbid, download torrents, this is the type of connection for you.
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Broadband Glossary
3G – Third Generation: wireless mobile services and applications offering users very fast access to the internet either through their mobile phone or through their computer wirelessly.
ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line: DSL service with a larger portion of the capacity devoted to downstream communications, less to upstream. Typically thought of as a residential service using copper cables to deliver the internet to the premises.
Bandwidth – The amount of data transmitted in a given amount of time; usually measured in bits per second, kilobits per second, and megabits per second.
Bit – A single unit of data, either a one or a zero. In the world of broadband, bits are used to refer to the amount of transmitted data. A kilobit (Kb) is approximately 1,000 bits. A megabit (Mb) is approximately 1,000,000 bits.
BPL – Broadband Over Powerline: A technology that allows broadband services to be delivered using existing electrical power supply lines and is now being rolled out in the developing world.
Broadband – A descriptive term for digital technologies that provides consumers with integrated access to voice, high-speed data service, video-demand services, and interactive delivery services
Coaxial Cable – A type of cable that can carry large amounts of data over very long distances. Cable TV and cable modem service both utilize this technology.
Dial-Up – A technology that provides customers with access to the Internet over an existing telephone line.
Downstream or Download – Data that flows from the Internet to the computer e.g. when a user surfs the internet, checks E-mail, that type of dataflow is downstream and the user is downloading.
DSL – Digital Subscriber Line: The use of a copper telephone line to deliver “always on” broadband Internet service.
FTTN – Fiber To The Neighborhood: A hybrid network architecture involving optical fiber from the carrier network, terminating in a neighborhood cabinet with converts the signal from optical to electrical.
FTTP – Fiber To The Premise (Or FTTB – Fiber To The Building): A fiber optic system that connects directly from the carrier network to the user premises.
GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications: This is the current radio/telephone standard in Europe and many other countries except Japan and the United States.
IP-VPN – Internet Protocol -Virtual Private Network: A software-defined network offering the appearance, functionality and usefulness of a dedicated private network
ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network: An alternative method to simultaneously carry voice, data and other traffic, using the switched telephone network.
ISP – Internet Service Provider: A company providing Internet access to consumers and businesses, acting as a bridge between customer (end-user) and infrastructure owners for dial-up, cable modem and DSL services.
Kbps – Kilobits per second: 1,000 bits per second. A measure of how fast data can be transmitted.
LAN – Local Area Network: A geographically localized network consisting of both hardware and software. The network can link workstations within a building or multiple computers with a single wireless Internet connection.
Mbps – Megabits per second: 1,000,000 bits per second. A measure of how fast data can be transmitted.
Streaming – Streaming video is content sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer in real time. With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a file to play it. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream of data and is played as it arrives.
Upstream or Upload – Data flowing from your computer to the Internet (sending E-mail, uploading a file).
Video On Demand – A service that allows users to remotely choose a movie from a digital library and be able to pause, fast-forward, or even rewind their selection.
Majority source: California Public Utilities Commission
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Free £50 Phone Credit With O2 Broadband – Offer Ends 31-03-10
O2 broadband are offering their mobile phone customers an amazing deal this Spring (yes, I’m officially declaring Spring!). For a limited time only, those O2 mobile customers who sign up for the O2 Premium or O2 Pro Home broadband packages will receive a FREE £50 credit into their mobile phone bill. This offer is available to -
- Pay monthly customers
- Pay as you go customers
- Mobile Broadband customers.
Plus, if you are not already signed up with O2 mobile you can still take advantage of this offer by simply buying a mobile product within 30 days of purchasing O2 Broadband.
So if you’re already an O2 customer, or not, now is the perfect time to not only pick up one of the best and cost effective broadband providers around, but also save yourself a packet on your mobile phone bill.
> > Click here to order O2 broadband today
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