The consolidation of the UK Broadband market in the last six or seven years has left us with four major suppliers, and a dearth of choice, but there are alternatives out there...
The ISP market might be bigger business than ever, but if you’re a consumer it often feels as though it’s shrunk. During the days of dial-up it seemed like everyone used a different service provider, whereas now it seems to be one of a few big telecoms or media companies, many of whom aren’t exactly famed for their low prices or good customer service.
So are there any better alternatives out there, or have the big companies hoovered up the competition’s users with good reason? Let’s try to find out.
The Big Four
Just to make the distinction clear, when we talk about the biggest Internet Service Providers in the country, we’ve got the following companies in mind, all of whom have more than 4 million subscribers on their books:
1. BT (incorporating PlusNet)
The biggest broadband provider in the UK, with an estimated 7.5 million subscribers at present.
Cheapest package: Broadband (17Mbps, 10GB usage limit) for £21.49 a month.
Most Expensive package: Unlimited BT Infinity (76Mbps, no usage limit) for £44 a month.
2. Sky Broadband
Covering the UK and Ireland, this is the second biggest ISP in the country with 5.5 million subscribers.
Cheapest package: Sky Broadband Unlimited (17Mbps, no usage limit) for £23.90 a month.
Most Expensive package: Sky Fibre Unlimited (38Mbps, 25GB usage limit) for £46.40 a month.
3. Virgin Media
Currently has 4.6 million users subscribing to packages that include broadband.
Cheapest package: Up to 50Mb (50Mbps, no usage limit) for £28.50 a month.
Most Expensive package: Up to 152Mb (152Mbps, no usage limit) for £41 a month.
4. TalkTalk
A combination of former brands (including AOL and Tiscali) that adds up to a total of 4.2 million users.
Cheapest package: Simply Broadband (17Mbps, no usage limit) for £21.70 a month.
Most Expensive package: Superfast Fibre (38Mbps, no usage limit) for £31.70 a month.
Just to make it clear how the Broadband market has changed: in 1998 there were a total of 19 companies serving the same proportion of Internet access as the combined 90% these companies now account for. Basically, any ISP not on that list counts as an ‘alternative’ – no matter how well-known or rich it might be. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other providers still out there, though.
EE
It’s not uncommon for people to buy broadband subscriptions alongside a mobile phone as part of a package or offer. Formed by a merger of Orange and T-Mobile in 2010 (both of which were rebranded in 2012), EE is the largest mobile phone operator in the UK, and has managed to parlay that into something like 800,000 broadband subscribers. That makes it several times bigger than the next smallest competitor, but only around a fifth as big as TalkTalk. In that sense, EE is the UK’s only mid-sized broadband company.
Although these figures probably include mobile broadband subscribers, EE does offer fibre optic home broadband packages with unlimited usage and a free ‘Bright Box’ router. Its packages also include a call plan and optional access to a TV service.
The minimum-priced package (phone & broadband) is a 12-month contract that includes a 17Mbps broadband connection with an £11 a month line rental (if you pay for the year upfront) and £2.50 monthly subscription (discounted from £9.95) for the first 12 months, making an effective total of £13.50 a month for the first year and £20.95 for all subsequent years. If you can’t afford to pay upfront, line rental costs £15.75 a month, so add £4.75 to the monthly prices quoted.
The most expensive package is a fibre optic Broadband package with a phone line and access to EE TV. The broadband offers speeds of up to 76Mbps with the same line rental cost as the cheaper package (£11 a month upfront or £15.95 if paid monthly) but with a monthly subscription cost of £34.95 for a minimum 18 month contract. This makes the total monthly price £45.95 with upfront line rental, or £50.70 with monthly line rental.
Good: Free router, TV options, reasonable monthly cost
Bad: Still a relatively large company, complex pricing
Zen Internet
Formed in 1995, Zen Internet is one of the oldest UK-based ISPs and while it has a focus on the business market, it does offer broadband for home users as both ADSL and fibre-optic connections. The costs for its services are expensive, but Zen is effectively a premium business service being offered to home users, hence the high cost. It is estimated that the company currently has something in the region of 80,000 subscribers.
Its cheapest package is ‘Zen Lite’, an ADSL broadband package which costs £18.37 a month on top of your monthly phone costs. For that, you get speeds up to 17Mbps and a 50GB data cap. Routers are available for £35.94. You can also transfer your phone line to the company, but there is no obligation to do so in order to receive their services.
The most expensive package is “Unlimited Fibre 2”, which includes a fibre-optic line providing download speeds of up to 76Mbps in supported areas. The package includes a free router worth £60 and has an unlimited data usage cap. Monthly costs are £30 for the subscription and £16.99 a line rental, making a total of £46.99 a month, though it’s worth noting that there’s also a £30 activation fee for the first year.
Good: Business-level service & speeds
Bad: No free router, low data cap
Utility Warehouse
Formed in 2002, Utility Warehouse is operated as a separate brand by Telecom Plus and handles 500,000 customers (though the number of broadband subscribers within that aggregate is unclear). While most ISPs tend to bundle access with entertainment services, Utility Warehouse bundles its broadband with – as the name suggests – utilities. Customers can buy broadband packages that include electricity and gas supplies as part of the monthly cost, as well as mobile phone services.
Their standard ADSL broadband package offers speeds up to 16Mbps with no minimum contract length, no connection fee, unlimited data and a free wireless router. The subscription cost for the package is just £8 on top of line rental, which claims to be the UK’s lowest, at £15.30 a month. This makes the complete package cost £23.29.
The larger broadband package is called Ultra Broadband and includes fibre-optic speed speeds of up to 76Mbps with a free wireless router, 18 month contract for £19.99 plus line rental. The total cost is £35.29 a month, though there’s also a £30 connection fee for this package.
Good: Low pricing, unique utility bundling strategy
Bad: Only two packages
Origin Broadband
Based in Doncaster, Origin operates its own network in South Yorkshire and is the UK’s 11th’ largest network, offering ADSL and fibre-optic services. It also claims to offer the UK’s cheapest line rental, though this is only true if line rental is paid in an up-front lump sum, otherwise it’s £16.40 a month.
Origin’s cheapest package, simply named ‘Origin Broadband’, is 17Mbps ADSL which includes a free wireless router and unlimited data on a 12-month contract for £10 subscription, alongside your line rental. Paid monthly it costs £26.39 a year, but if you pay for a year’s line rental up front it costs an effective £19.16 a month, and if you pay two years up front it costs just £18.32 a month.
Origin’s most expensive package is a fibre-optic 76Mbps package with all the same perks, but an 18-month contract and £23 a month subscription. Paid monthly, it costs £39.39 including line rental, with a year’s up front line rental it costs an effective £32.16 a month, and with two years up front it costs just £31.32 – good savings, if you can afford to make them!
Note that on the former package, Origin’s data requirement only applies to its main network, not on partners – though unfortunately there’s no easy way to tell which you can access until you sign up. Luckily, the latter package has free download usage across all networks. A router costing £10 is added to both packages by default, but you can choose to have no router to save the money, or a more advanced one for £30 instead.
Good: Low prices if you can afford to pay in advance
Bad: Limited variety, weird availability constraints
KC
Operated by Kingston Communications, KC is an alternative ‘triple play’ provider offering the same package as the biggest providers – bundled phone, Internet and TV services. Based in Hull and available in the surrounding areas, the company offers several broadband packages using its ‘lightstream’ fibre-optic network as well as traditional ADSL.
The cheapest package – simply called ‘Home’ – does not quote a download speed, but has a 35GB download limit, so it’s safe to say it’s probably around 17Mbps (which is standard ADSL speed). The monthly cost includes line rental and free evening & weekend phonecalls as well as 120 minutes free calls to mobile phones for a total of £32 a month.
The most expensive package is called Lightstream Ultra 250 and offers a 250Mbps fibre-optic download speed, with monthly line rental and unlimited local calls, 180 minutes of free mobile calls and free directory enquiry calls included in the package. The Lightstream Ultra 250 package also has an enhanced upload speed of 15 Mbps and currently offers free connection (though at time of writing, the deal is due to end on May 1st 2015). The total price is £69.99, so it’s not cheap, but it does offer a standard of connection few other providers do.
Good: Offers high-speed packages
Bad: Local availability only
Claranet Soho
Founded as Claranet in 1996, the company has a presence in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Portgual and has survived as an independent ISP even though many of its peers ended up consumed by larger brands. Although the company now focuses on managed hosting and services, they do still offer Internet connections through their consumeroriented brand, Claranet SOHO. The SOHO acronym stands for Small Office/Home Office and, as the name suggests, is largely aimed at business users.
The site does not quote the prices of individual packages without full personal details, but standard ADSL is available from £17 a month (excluding VAT) with an installation fee of £10, so expect an effective minimum of £21 a month.
Fibre-optic lines start at £36 a month (ex VAT) with a £150 installation fee on 12 month contracts (although it’s waived for 24-month contracts, which they also offer). Their fastest package gives a 76Mbps download speed and a 19Mbps upload speed, with no data cap and a free Netgear router as part of the package, though you can imagine that package is far more expensive than the £36 minimum.
Good: Business-focussed services.
Bad: Probably too expensive for home users.
Demon Internet
Another survivor from the 90s, Demon Internet was founded in 1992 as one of the UK’s earliest ISPs, and currently operates as a brand of Vodafone after it purchased Demon’s previous parent company, Cable & Wireless Worldwide. At present Demon only offers two broadband packages, both of which are ADSL-based and business-focussed. There’s a 5% discount on pricing if you pay annually and a free router is included.
Demon Business Lite+ starts at £13 subscription (ex VAT) for a 24-month contract and offers a 19Mbps download speed with a 60GB usage allowance, unrestricted overnight usage and up to 16 static IP addresses.
The more expensive package, Demon Business Unlimited, offers the same speed and perks but with unrestricted download usage and costs £17 a month (ex VAT) for a 24 month contract. In both cases, line rental can be transferred to Demon (though it doesn’t say how much they charge) or you can use your existing line.
Good: Static IP addresses and unmetered overnight downloads on metered packages
Bad: No fibre-optic package – relatively slow ADSL only
Although we can’t look at every single alternative ISP in the country, we hope this gives you a look at what’s out there beyond the options offered by the bigger providers. It’s fair to say that, in terms of services and pricing, some of the smaller ISPs offer you something the big ones don’t – especially if you’re a business customer. So, next time you go looking for a new broadband provider, it could well we worth looking around to see what else you can find!
Whatever Happened to Freeserve?
Before broadband took off, it was common for dial-up ISPs to charge a monthly subscription, while you paid the price for calls to phone provider. It didn’t have to be that way, however.
Launched in 1998, Freeserve used a radically different model: it was subscription-free, and made money through a profit-sharing model that saw it take a cut of the call charges for its local-rate dial-up numbers. The idea was embraced by the public, and within two years it had amassed two million users, making it one of the UK’s biggest ISPs.
Despite this, the company was losing huge amounts of money. It had yet to turn a profit when, in December 2000, it was bought by French telecoms company Wanadoo.
Unfortunately, Freeserve’s model proved easy to replicate and a huge number of imitation ISPs were established. Most major ISPs also launched their own subscription-free dial-up services, while cable providers such as NTL World offered their customers a subscription-free ISP with significantly cheaper pricing than BT’s local call rates.
In 2004, with Freeserve’s popularity waning (not least because broadband was becoming more popular) the company was rebranded Wanadoo UK. In 2006 the parent company and its subsidiaries were all rebranded as Orange, and in 2012 rebranded again to their current name, EE. Dial-Up access has long since ceased to be a concern for most Internet users, though EE do still offer a dial-up connection. The freeserve.com domain no longer exists, and the most visible legacy of Freeserve is found only in EE’s free webmail service, which still supports fsmail (“Freeserve mail”) addresses – though fsmail itself was discontinued as a brand in 2012.