Ever wanted to reduce your mobile bill? I’m sure most of us have. The good news is, we can, with the help of the fast evolving Internet.

Making phone calls over the Internet is not new, but relatively unknown with the masses. The technology behind it is called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP for short. Your calls as transmitted via the Internet, rather than the traditional phone network. You don’t even need to have your computer on, or use a headset. You can make phone calls using a normal phone. But for that, you need a router, rather than a traditional modem and a phone adaptor, or a VoIP phone. The two most well know Voice over Internet providers are Skype and Vonage.

Now this technology is being taking one step further. By combing WiFi hotspots (places where you can access the Internet wirelessly) with VoIP, companies like Vonage and Skype are taking the mobile phone market to the next level. Thats right, you can now use VoIP on your mobile. Why bother? Well, its a lot cheaper for you and the person calling you. Your VoIP mobile number is a landline (an 01 or 02 number), rather than a traditional mobile number (07..). So effectively you are using a mobile without paying the high mobile rates. And you can often call another VoIP user for free, especially if that person is with the same company.

Sounds to good to be true? Well, the major drawback is that WiFi hotspots are in limited places, so it is anything but a seamless mobile network. But WiFi hotspots are expanding, and entire towns/cities are being given blanket coverage.

We do not predict WiFi mobiles to replace the traditional mobile in the near future, but it is certainly a good option for the cost conscious customer.

To find out more, here is the
BBC article (click here)

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We have launched a website to bring you the best broadband, home phone and digital television deals. The website is called Stellar Deals. We will constantly monitoring the market to find the best deals, doing the hard work for you. The site includes comparison tables, details of the leading providers and comprehensive buyers guides. It is free to use, impartial and comprehensive.

Check it out at www.stellardeals.co.uk

T-Mobile is offering cut price roaming for its customers for this years football World Cup. Customers will be to buy 40 minutes of talk time for £10 to use when making or receiving calls while abroad. Thats 25 pence a minute and certainly a lot cheaper than the standard 75 pence to £1 per minute.

More details of this offer to follow..

Leading comparison site uSwitch has slammed BT and NTL for poor customer services in its broadband survey. 16,000 people were surveyed by YouGov. Plusnet topped the poll, with 92% of its customers satisfied. Pipex and Telewest came second and third respectively.

BT, NTL and AOL are all questioning the validity of the survey, with BT questioning uSwitch’s role in the market due to the undisclosed comission’s it receives when switching customers from one provider to another.

Overall satisfaction:

Plusnet 92%
Pipex 90%
Telewest 89%
Virgin 87%
AOL 83%
Wanadoo 83%
Tiscali 83%
BT 82%
Ntl 81%

Source: uSwitch.com

Sky has announced that it will launch its own broadband service this summer. Sky purchased Easynet (who also own UK Online) last year in an effort to break into the broadband market.

Sky have not announced the details of its broadband product, but we can expect it to be aggressive. Sky have the benefit of a large customer base and could easily bundle its new broadband service with its digital television service. It is also likely to start offering its digital television service over a broadband connection, rather then customers having to install a minidish.

It could be great news for Sky customers..

Bulldog (owned by Cable and Wireless) has introduced new broadband packages at doubled the speed of its existing broadband packages.

Bulldog utilises Local Loop Unbundling to offer high speed broadband access and its network covers one third of the UK population. By the end of September its network will be extended to half the UK population.

Bulldog have named its 16 Mb products “DoubleSpeed Broadband”. There are two packages available:

Anytime Plus
- £9.75 per month for the first three months. Then £14.75 per month.
- 1Gb download cap
- Suitable for low users

Unlimited Plus
- £19.50 for the first three months. Then £24.50 per month.
- Unlimited usage (downloading).
- Suitable for medium to high users

As with all Bulldog Broadband products, you must also pay your line rental to Bulldog rather than BT.
Verdict
If you are after very high speed internet, this is a good deal. Although at £24.50 per month for 16Mb, Be Unlimited has a better deal as it offers 24 Mb broadband for about the same price.
If you are not interested in super fast broadband, then “DoubleSpeed Broadband” is not the offer for you. You are paying a premium for the extra speed. £24.50 for the Unlimited Plus is very expensive nowadays.

The “Anytime Plus” product is more competitive at £14.75 per month, but it has a 1Gb cap which will restrict your downloading and internet surfing time. There are unlimited 1Mb packages available for as low as £9.99 with UK Online and £14.99 with Tiscali. Granted the speed is a lot slower, but if you don’t need the extra speed, it is far better to get a product with no download cap.

A word of caution for anyone interested in super fast broadband. The advertised speed is not necessarily the speed you will receive. 16Mb is the optimal speed that you could receive. There are various factors affecting the download speed including, the distance from your house to the nearest telephone exchange and the quality of the line.