One provider that is eager to change the dominance of BT in the broadband market is UK Online. It is one of the leading broadband internet service providers behind the concept of local loop unbundling – which means it places its own equipment into BT exchanges. By doing this, it hopes to offer better value to its customers and faster speeds.
UK Online is owned by Sky Broadband and it uses it's network to deliver Sky Broadband as well as offering it's own services which are aimed more at the home office, small business customer.
Indeed it is living up to its philosophy as UK Online broadband already offers one package with speeds up to 22Mb - one of the fastest in the UK.
Who is UK Online broadband ideal for?
With UK Online broadband your choice is based on speed. For most users, particularly new users fresh from dial-up, the 1Mb and 2Mb deals will be sufficient and offer the best value for money. However, if you are online a lot and like to make consistent downloads - such as of movies and music - then you might prefer the super-fast speeds on offer from the more expensive packages.
What do you need?
- A BT phone line.
- A USB modem or router - with the 22Mb package you must purchase the UK Online Netgear ADSL 2+ Router.
- PC users need Windows Millennium version, 2000 or above. Mac users require 8/9 or higher, or Mac OSX.
What else does UK Online have to offer?
One of the major advantages of UK Online is that it has a lower contention ratio than BT. BT's contention ratio is 50:1 whereas UK Online has a contention ratio of 33:1. This means that there are fewer people sharing the connection with you at any one time - which should help you secure faster download speeds and experience fewer connection difficulties.
In addition, the company has 24/7 support, gives you the option to buy its hardware and offers its own email addresses with Spam filter.
UK Online broadband has established itself as a real alternative to BT. So if you are unhappy with your current provider check out its deals and see if its dedication to offering a specialised service makes UK Online's packages better deals for you.
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