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Tuesday 03 April, 2012
By Helen Thomas
Because Plusnet (www.plus.net) uses the whole BT network to deliver broadband, it is able to cover 99% of UK homes - making it likely that your postcode will be covered.
Find out by using our free postcode checker.
Plusnet says it “won’t be beat on price” and with standalone broadband starting from £6.49 a month - and numerous special offers - it has so far been delivering on its promises. It has become widely recognised for delivering great value broadband and home phone packages, and in recent years Plusnet has filled up its mantelpiece with awards recognising its value for money and customer service.
Plusnet packages are priced “from” because some parts of the country are in a different “market area” and unfortunately pay more for their broadband. However, 80% of UK homes qualify for Plusnet’s lowest priced broadband service so not only is Plusnet available to most households, the vast majority of its customers can get its best deals too.
While Plusnet offers the same packages to the 20% of households outside of its “low cost” areas, these consumers will have to pay more for their broadband - which can as much as double the monthly charge.
Unfortunately, these households are often in the most rural areas of the UK and are the consumers with the fewest broadband options available to them.
Visit our postcode checker to find out the full list of broadband suppliers in your area.
Plusnet’s two main broadband packages, Value and Extra, both offer speeds of up to 16Mb as long as your local exchange is ADSL2+ enabled. Ofcom research in November 2011 showed that average speeds achieved by customers on an up to 16Mb connection were 7.2-9.3Mb.
This was comparable to several of Plusnet’s key competitors but significantly slower than reigning speed king Virgin Media, which uses its cable network to deliver very fast broadband connections.
If your local exchange hasn’t been ADSL2+ enabled, your maximum “up to” speed falls to sub-8Mb.
In 2011, Plusnet joined the superfast broadband revolution using BT’s fibre network and offering competitively priced fibre broadband products with potential download speeds of up to 38Mb.
The cost of Plusnet Fibre - only available in limited areas at present - is approximately £10 more than for Plusnet's standard broadband package.
BT has committed to covering two-thirds of the UK with superfast fibre broadband by 2014 - and Plusnet will be able to offer fibre to customers anywhere that BT has laid fibre cables.
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