Best Broadband Deals
As the broadband market saturates, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are finding it tougher to win new customers. To entice customers to sign up, ISPs are competing to provide the best broadband deals possible.
This is great news if you’re a potential customer and there are lots of freebies up for grabs including software, text messages, free air time on your mobile and of course the ultimate in freebie giveaways Laptops and game consoles.
New Customers Are Dwindling Away
In the days when high speed Internet was first made publicly available, there was a rush of customers wanting to sign up to broadband and ditch their old slow dial up connections.
In the ten years or so since broadband was made publicly available in the UK, most households now have broadband. The pool of new customers has dried up.
We Are A Lazy Bunch
In the UK, once we sign up for services, we tend to stick with them. Why? Well, the answer is one of the natural human trait of apathy.
Natural apathy is the principle that many businesses rely on to generate better profits. A good example is the example of bank accounts. Many people stick with their banks for years even in the knowledge that they could get better rates and terms elsewhere.
Why is this the case? Perhaps because the hassle of changing bank accounts outweighs the immediate benefit of doing so. It’s not until the bank causes sufficient hassle (e.g. by poor customer service) that the hassle to benefit scale inverts and customers start looking elsewhere with a view to changing bank.
Broadband can be similar in terms of natural apathy but is very different in terms of the best broadband deals and incentives used to encourage customers to switch provider.
Switchers Are The New Market
With many people already having broadband, the market for new adopters has all but dried up. ISPs are now turning their focus on persuading customers to switch to their services.
Let’s face it, if you’re a consumer, switching broadband provider really is a hassle. You need to think about start and end dates, MAC codes, new passwords and changing the billing arrangements to the new provider. In many cases, it all goes wrong and customers are left in a void (i.e. the time between old and new broadband switching over).
In fact, if you’re going to switch provider, there needs to be some pretty good incentives to offset the inevitable disruption. This is where the freebies that come with the best broadband deals come in.
Freebie Incentives
One method of persuading people to go through the hassle of switching is to offer attractive enticements.
ISPs will typically offer the best broadband deals that they possibly can in an effort to win customers. Take a look around the UK broadband providers and it’s not too difficult to find free laptops, computers, gaming consoles, mobile air time and text messages.
Shopping Around for the Best Broadband Deals
There has never been a better time to bag yourself give away laptops and gaming consoles etc. Take a look around and see what offer you would be most interested in. Perhaps a laptop for you or a games console for the kids but don’t make your decision purely on the attractiveness of the freebie item(s).
How It Works
A PS3, XBOX or Laptop costs a considerable amount of money. ISP’s are not just going to give you one for free if there is nothing in it for them.
How do ISPs cover the costs of items given away with the best broadband deals? Well, the answer is that they recover the cost of the item over a period of time. For you, the customer, this means that you sign up for a minimum term contract as in 12, 24 or perhaps even 36 months.
Over the contract period, you pay back the cost of the item included in your monthly broadband plan. This means that plans that include expensive item incentives tend to be more pricey than simple broadband packages without giveaway deals.
Watch Out For The Catch
However, as always, there can be a sting in the tail if you’re not careful and deals may not be as attractive as they initially appear. The catches of broadband deals are:
- You end up paying for the “free” items in the long term
- Contract terms are generally long, from 24 months upward
The upshot is that the ISP makes a profit not only on broadband but also on the “free” give away item. Moreover, you are tied into a lengthy contract and should you wish to terminate early you cannot do so easily and without financial penalty.
Having taken all of this into consideration, you may decide that the extra monthly cost is worth it for the initial incentive offer.
There are certainly some great incentives around but to get the best deal you need to be ready to do research to identify not only the best broadband deals but also try and understand if you’ll be able to live with the ISP service standards for up to 24 months. Don’t forget to check out impartial broadband reviews just to make sure that, in switching broadband provider, you’re not jumping from the frying pan into the fryer for the sakes of a free PS3 or laptop.
