AAA

Broadband News

Mobile broadband sets Hull free

Mobile broadband sets Hull free

Add a CommentAdd a comment (3)
PrintPrint
Email a friendSend to a friend

Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Frustrated with the lack of choice, Hull’s broadband customers have been turning to mobile broadband in record numbers, according to the Carphone Warehouse (02-10-08).

The Carphone Warehouse store in Stephens Shopping Centre, Hull has seen the sale of mobile broadband dongles rise by as much as 200 per cent - more than four times the national average.

"At the moment, we can sell more [dongles] in a day than mobile phones"

Mobile broadband has allowed customers in Hull to bypass KCOM - which has a near monopoly in the city - altogether.

Mobile broadband allows users to access the internet without a landline wherever they are, using the mobile phone network. Although usage limits are much lower than most home broadband connections, for Hull residents, where choice is extremely limited, it seems to have offered the perfect solution.

Michael Readings, Carphone Warehouse store manager, Hull, said: “We have seen mobile broadband sales go through the roof recently, showing that our customers and the residents of Hull want not only more choice in their broadband provider, but are also looking for better value.

“I am not that surprised, though,” he added. “Customers are always coming in and complaining they cannot access a lot of the broadband offers advertised in the Carphone Warehouse, such as TalkTalk (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com), as they are KC customers.”

In a recent survey by consumer watchdog Which? KCOM’s ISP Karoo (www.Karoo.co.uk) came bottom of the pile, and one local resident was reported by the Hull Daily Mail as being “extremely angry and frustrated with KCOM”.

“At the moment, we can sell more [dongles] in a day than mobile phones,” revealed Readings.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “The residents of Hull have suffered expensive, slow and outdated packages for years because of a lack of competition and although KCOM has endeavoured to improve services in the area - including revamping Karoo’s packages and lowering wholesale prices - this has had little impact on competition - and therefore choice.

“It’s great to see that the residents of Hull are using mobile broadband to break free from KCOM,” he concluded.

Related article - Hidden costs of mobile broadband.

Add a CommentAdd a comment (3)
PrintPrint
Email a friendSend to a friend
Bookmark with:


We want your views, register and comment on this article

Already Registered?

We will contact you if we can help with your issue, your number will not be given to any third party.

Terms and Conditions Apply


Comments

Mobile broadband is a long way off being a replacement for fixed line broadband. Try online gaming, or streaming iplayer, 4oD or even watching a youtube video its a complete waste of time.

What we need to do is entice another provider into Hull, go to www.hullnet.co.uk, I'm attepting to get othoer provider in Hull. This is a non profit making website and its not affilliated with any company, just a local bloke trying to help the residence of Hull and the surrounding area have a choice for fixed line broadband.

www.hullnet.co.uk
Alan Dalgairns, Hull
Mar 17 2009 8:13AM

Interesting that Mobile Broadband is becoming more popular than Mobile Phones. For people that are interested in Mobile Broadband but are worried about getting in to a contract I have some information on my Blog about Pay as you Go Mobile Broadband:

http://mobiledatauk.blogspot.com/2008/08/pay-as-you-go-mobile-broadband.html

Neil.
http://mobiledatauk.blogspot.com/
MobileDataUK, UK
Oct 2 2008 11:31PM

The tone of this article almost appears to blame KCOM for the lack of competition. That's not the case. Hull is an open market just like anywhere else - it's just that no other suppliers have felt that it would be worth their while operating in Hull. The May 2008 report by OfCom (Review of the wholesale broadband access markets), determined that KCOM was not acting in any way that would prevent other companies offering services in the area (they offer the same type of facilities to other companies as BT does in the rest of the country) - it's just that at the moment they simply don't want to - that was OfCom's finding, not mine! Don't blame KCOM for that - contact the other companies and ask them why they aren't offering services there.
Seajay, UK
Oct 2 2008 1:27PM