Many people cannot see the need for the extra cost of a telephone line when they have a mobile phone with a suitable contract. They feel that the phone line is an added cost that they would like to eliminate. If you find yourself in this situation, your options will be very limited; however, this type of deal is available.
Why Do You Want Broadband Only Deals?
The introduction of the smartphone, and the deals that mobile phone service providers offer, have made the traditional phone line obsolete for most people. The one problem with this is that it is usually a necessity if you want to get broadband at home. Many people, therefore, use their mobile phone for all their telephone calls as well as to connect to the internet.
What Are Your Options?
The options available to you are limited and your main choice would have to be fibre optic or cable broadband. ADSL broadband connections require a landline service. Virgin Media is currently the top provider in the fibre optic arena. Their prominence in this type of broadband is due to the fact that they were the initial providers of the service. They currently support approximately 50% of the fibre optic broadband users in the UK with their service. BT has also entered the arena, along with other internet service providers who make use of the BT infrastructure.
Fibre optic broadband is ideal if you are looking at broadband-only deals, as it offers several distinct advantages over ADSL connections:
You will immediately eliminate the additional cost of having a telephone line installed if you opt for this type of service.
The connection speeds offered by fibre optic broadband is superior to that of ADSL.
Fibre optic broadband generally costs more than ADSL; however, it offers superior stability.
It is possible to obtain fibre optic broadband in most urban areas, and the service providers are intent on rolling out the service to cover a wider area.
Most people avoid fibre optic broadband, mostly because of the higher costs involved, but also because it is not available to everyone. If you are in the market for broadband, and when you measure the costs of one to another, you should bear in mind the additional telephone line rental fee. This may, in fact, make ADSL more expensive than the more superior fibre optic service.
Mobile Broadband Only Deals
Due to the limited number of options available, if you do not have or want a telephone line, mobile broadband may be a viable solution. If you have a smartphone, you probably use your service to access the internet anyway, but there are other factors that you should consider regarding this. The one disadvantage of mobile broadband is the cost ineffectiveness.
Other factors that you should bear in mind when considering mobile broadband only deals are:
The connection speeds are often delayed and slow.
The cost is generally much higher than ADSL, and it may even be higher than fibre optic broadband.
If you are not in an area that your mobile phone service provider covers, you may get a very unstable connection. This intermittent coverage will slow down your overall connection speed.
Light internet users will find mobile broadband more suitable. A light user will normally receive and send a limited number of daily emails and will connect to the internet for a limited time period daily. This makes mobile broadband a great option for them. Moderate or heavy users will probably become frustrated by the slower speeds and limited data allowance of mobile broadband. The normal data allowance for mobile broadband is between 3 and 15GB. If you opt for a 3GB limit, you will be limited to:
Surfing the internet for about 30 hours; or
Sending about 3,000 basic email messages; or
Downloading about 96 average length music tracks; or
Downloading about 15 x 4-minute video tracks.
If you need more data allowance, you will have to pay an additional charge, which is normally quite expensive.
4G Mobile Broadband
A 4G mobile broadband connection is the better alternative if you opt for mobile broadband. The reason for this is that the speeds that are attainable with 4G are comparable with most of the fixed line connections available. Unfortunately, at the moment, the coverage of this network is extremely limited. The other problem is that not all the service providers offer this service.
Satellite Broadband
This should be your last stop if you are looking at broadband only deals. This service is the only option available to consumers who are unable to obtain ADSL or cable broadband. It is normally the only connection type for consumers who live in rural areas. This type of connection is unreliable and is slower than other types of broadband connections.
Suitable Providers
The type of connection you choose will ultimately determine the provider you can go with. Internet service providers offer varying connection types and it is possible that you may not be able to get your required service from all the available providers. Before you choose a provider, you should do thorough research on the options available to you.
You could visit the following provider websites if you are considering fibre optics:
Virgin Media
Sky Fibre
BT Infinity
Plusnet
TalkTalk
EE
For 3G mobile broadband, you should investigate mobile phone service providers to decide on a suitable plan. The main service providers in this particular CatID are:
Virgin Mobile
3-Mobile
Vodafone
If you wish to find out more about the 4G service, the main provider of the service in the UK is EE. Orange and T-Mobile form part of this group and that means that they too offer the service.
It is possible to find suitable broadband-only deals; some of these require that you have a telephone line, and others dont. You should assess your needs and requirements and settle on a deal that will offer you everything you need at the best possible price.
After Sam Jones was told about the savings he could make by browsing online price comparison sites like uSwitch, he couldn’t wait to give it a try. He was interested in broadband only deals and managed to find several great offers within his budget.
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