Direct Save Telecom Claims to Offer the UK Cheapest Broadband Deal

Home phone and internet provider Direct Save Telecom claims to have launched “the UK’s lowest priced broadband deal” today, which provides new customers with an ‘up to 24Mbps’ broadband connection (“typical” speed of up to 13Mbps), 20GB usage allowance and free evening / weekend calls for just £2.49 per month.

The ISP states that its promotion is a “transparent offer“, which allegedly has “has no gimmicks or headline grabbing numbers that change after six months or a year“, although it’s not all plain sailing. Customers still have to take out a lengthy 24 month contract and must also pay line rental at £12.85 per month. (i.e. total cost £15.35).

The price, which also includes free set-up and a free wireless router, will apparently stay constant throughout the life of your contract. That’s a few pence lower than Primus Saver’s cheapest package, which offers a similar service for £2.99 per month (£12.79 Line Rental).

Direct Save CEO, Stavros Tsolakis, said:

“Prices are going crazy just now. Petrol is going through the roof, there is about to be a 30% increase in the price of a first class stamp, and you do not get much change from a fiver when you buy a pint of beer. We are all currently being hit hard in the pocket, and if the forecasters are proved correct, there could be more hard times ahead.

This is why we are delighted to be able to offer this great deal to the UK broadband market. Customers will only have to pay £2.49 a month, which means we will be the lowest priced provider in the UK. We envisage this great deal, as well as our excellent customer care policy which includes 24/7 UK based customer support, will allow us to compete with the larger telecom companies who dominate the market just now.

Simply put, broadband customers will not be able to find a better deal anywhere in the UK – Direct Save Telecom is proud to be able to say this.”

So is it really the cheapest? Maybe, but there are a few crucial things that need to be mentioned. Firstly the price of £2.49 only applies to customers in their “low cost network area” and jumps up to £9.95 per month for anybody stuck outside of this (i.e. Market 1 rural areas / around 10% of the UK). The free wireless router also costs £8.95 to deliver (some other ISPs charge £5-£6 or do so for free).

DST’s Other Small Print

If you decide to terminate this service before the expiry of the Minimum Period you will incur an early termination charge of £5 for each remaining month until the expiry of the Minimum Period, together with a £35 wireless router charge.

You may also incur the following charges: (a) if you leave our service and do not use a Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) you will be charged a £35 cease charge; (b) if you fail to give us 28 days notice prior to the expiry of the Minimum Period you will be charged an admin fee of £19.50; and (c) if you leave after the expiry of the Minimum Period and do not return the wireless router you may incur a wireless router fee of £35.

Generally speaking DST’s small print isn’t all that different from other ISPs that offer similarly cheap services, thus the main concern is likely to be with quality and investment. Pricing broadband so low doesn’t leave much room for investment in future technology or capacity upgrades, so don’t expect a high performance service for such a small price tag. You get what you pay for.