Broadband

Mobile operator O2 yesterday caught up with the rest of the mobile crowd and launched their broadband offerings. Built on the back of Be’s network of 818 ADSL2+ enabled exchanges, covering nearly 14m premises, O2 hope to differentiate themselves from the crowd by not going down the “free broadband” route and instead competing on features.

O2 are offering their existing mobile customers a range of packages starting at £7.50 per month for 8Mbps and going up to £15.00 per month for 20Mbps. All of their products include freephone support and “unlimited” data usage (although the obligatory Fair Usage Policy still applies).

Since Be’s network already operates ADSL2+ Annex M, O2 are able to advertise an upstream of up to 1.6Mbps (on the 20Mbps “Ultimate” product). The upstream is commonly overlooked by consumers and small businesses, partly as most providers only advertise the download speeds in the headlines. This is one area where LLU providers (Be / O2 in particular) have a distinct advantage over BT’s current IPStream platform, which is limited to 448kbps upstream on home products.

Full details of the O2 broadband products can be found at o2.co.uk.

Tags: Be Unlimited, IPStream, O2