Vodafone Connect delivers high speed broadband and home phone services with speeds up to 76Mbps
Vodafone UK has announced it is now a broadband provider. With the launch of Vodafone Connect, which will provide broadband and home phone services to customers across the UK later in the summer, Vodafone is stepping into the broadband market alongside Virgin Media and Sky.
Available at speeds up to 76 Mbps, Vodafone’s nationwide fibre optic, business-grade network already reaches exchanges which pass nearly 20 million premises across the UK, with that figure increasing to around 22 million later in the summer.
The Vodafone Connect companion mobile app for iOS and Android, coupled with the router, offers a range of features that will give customers greater control over the devices in the home: ‘Boost’ allows customers to supercharge any device connected to their home network, giving that device priority over others; ‘Beam’, which uses Beamforming technology, sends a stronger Wi-Fi signal to compatible devices wherever they are in the home; ‘Family Time’ allows customers to easily manage and set time limits, giving them control over when Wi-Fi is available and when it is not; and ‘Guest Wi-Fi’ allows controlled Wi-Fi access to household guests in one click.
Broadband providers and mobile operators in the UK have been busy getting into bed with each other for several months; earlier this year in January Sky announced it is to add a range of mobile voice and data services to its customer offering for the first time following the agreement of a new wholesale partnership with Telefónica UK. The deal came about as Sky rival BT committed to a £12.5 billion takeover of the largest UK mobile network, EE. Sky plans to launch its first mobile telephony services to customers in 2016.
Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO of Vodafone UK said: “This is a really exciting move for Vodafone in the UK as we move our business into a new phase. We’re looking forward to bringing our consumer customers the benefits of our experience in providing fixed and mobile services, both here in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
“Our significant investment is creating hundreds of new jobs over the next couple of years. We are looking forward to the year ahead, including our move into offering TV services, as one which will prove to be a step-change in our customers’ lives.”
Whether customers choose Ultrafast Fibre Broadband (up to 76 Mbps), Superfast Fibre Broadband (up to 38 Mbps) or Broadband ADSL (up to 17 Mbps), Vodafone give each customer £5 off the standard broadband price every month and for the first 12 months it will be further discounted to half price, making it one of the best value broadband and home phone packages in the UK.
Vodafone Red (pay monthly mobile) customers will also get inclusive calls anytime to landlines, plus 300 free minutes to mobile numbers. And every customer gets inclusive evening and weekend calls, plus discounted Sure Signal units to boost mobile coverage indoors if necessary.
Vodafone Connect will initially be offered to existing Vodafone UK customers in Manchester, Berkshire and parts of Hampshire and Surrey followed by Essex, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire in the next few weeks. The service will be rolled out to the rest of Vodafone’s UK customer base later in the summer at which point customers will be able to buy the service over the phone or at any one of our more than 500 stores across the country.
Vodafone expects to launch broadband to new customers later in the year, but registration is already open. It is also running an Easy Switching service; once a customer decides to order Vodafone Connect, and has informed their provider where required, Vodafone’s switching experts will coordinate everything.
This launch builds on the success of Vodafone’s fixed broadband services across 12 countries in Europe, where it is one of the largest providers with more than 11 million subscribers
Cindy Rose, consumer director at Vodafone UK said: “We wanted to start our journey into fibre optic broadband and home phone with an exclusive offer available only to existing Vodafone customers as our way of saying thank you for their loyalty. We know our customers depend on us to stay connected, and now we can satisfy their needs both at home and on the go. As the only operator in the UK which owns both a fixed and mobile network, we’re in a great position to create innovative products and services that give our existing customers reasons to stay with us and new customers reasons to switch.”
Vodafone’s Connect router (worth £130) will be provided free to customers.
The operator will add broadband and home phone services to customer’s mobile packages, presenting one bill to customers covering all services.
