First anniversary of 'free' broadband

On 11 April 2007, a year will have passed since The Carphone Warehouse introduced its TalkTalk 'free' broadband offer.

Despite the delivery issues, TalkTalk's 'bundle' package proved extremely popular and sparked a fierce price war in the broadband market.

A report by SimplySwitch.com, the price comparison and switching service, reveals how broadband, and people's attitudes towards it, have changed in the 12 months since TalkTalk's launch.

ISPs today offer almost six times better value for money than they did before TalkTalk introduced its free bundled broadband

72% of people now see broadband as an essential service

48% think that broadband prices have stayed the same even though both Talk Talk,

Orange and BSkyB have launched free broadband packages.

For the report, SimplySwitch looked at suppliers' fastest broadband deals in April 2006 and March 2007. They compared each deal's monthly cost to its speed of connection, resulting in a measure that shows the relative cost of broadband, or 'value for money'.
Measured in '£s per Megabit (Mb)', lower 'costs' indicate better value for money:

In the past 12 months, customers have benefited enormously from the competition between suppliers. On average, ISPs today offer 5.8 times better 'value for money' than they did just one year ago (£12.80 per Mb in April 2006 compared to £2.20 per Mb in March 2007).

Perhaps because of broadband's new-found affordability, more than 40% of us now have an 'always-on' connection. 72% see broadband as an essential service with only 26% claiming that it's 'nice to have, but could live with out it'. However, despite the increasing popularity of broadband, some people still have a way to go before they fully understand it. 22% did not know how fast their broadband was.

Karen Darby, founder of SimplySwitch.com, comments: "We all know that the broadband market is incredibly competitive, but it's amazing to see how much it's changed in just 12 months. Since the launch of TalkTalk, rival suppliers have had to react fast to avoid the risk of being left behind. This has been fantastic for the customer. The market's now changing so rapidly that anyone who's been on the same package for a year or more should be able to switch to a much faster deal and save money.

Darby has the following advice for those choosing a new broadband package:

"For fast Internet access, consider a deal that provides a connection of up to 8Mb (8 megabits per second). Bear in mind, however, that depending on a number of factors, including your property's distance from the supplier's 'exchange', you may not achieve the full speed advertised. At SimplySwitch.com we can tell you your household's maximum 'access speed'.

"Some cheaper broadband deals limit the amount that you can download each month. If you're likely to download lots of music and video files, consider an 'unlimited' broadband package. Watch out though. Even 'unlimited' packages are subject to 'Fair Usage Policies' and all suppliers have the right to limit your service if they believe you're using your broadband excessively."