Satellite ISP Avonline Broadband Give Free Installs to UK Rural Areas

One of the biggest hindrances to taking a Satellite broadband connection is the high cost of hardware and installation. The UK Government is currently mooting a subsidy scheme to tackle this, but in the meantime one ISP has said that they’ll offer free installation and activation (saving £150) to those in rural areas.

Apparently the Avonline Broadband offer will be available to those in rural areas who subscribe to one of their ‘up to’ 22Mbps (6Mbps upload) based products (Eutelsat/Skylogic). But in order to benefit you’ll need to join through several selected local authorities and rural associations.

Apparently the local authorities and rural associations that have agreed to participate include: Northumberland, Northamptonshire and Cornwall County Councils, plus the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Country, Land and Business Association (CLA).

Mark Wynn, MD of Avonline Broadband, said:

“It is becoming increasingly clear from the recent announcements by official bodies, and in the chancellor’s Budget statement, that around 1.5 million mostly-rural homes and businesses have no realistic hope of getting superfast broadband from the large infrastructure providers in the foreseeable future.

Satellite broadband is their only realistic solution over the next two to five years. Our priority is to make our satellite broadband capacity easily available to those in areas and interest groups where we have a relationship.

We also welcome new partnerships with local authorities keen to help their residents solve their internet problem, wherever they may live. There is no cost to them for partnering with us.”

According to Starups, the Avonline website is supposed to give more detail but at present it appears to offer conflicting information. We found a number of special offer pages, such as this one for Cornwall and this one for the NFU, but the promotions differed with one offering half-price installation for “4 local installs” and another offering a 20% discount.

It’s likely that Avonline hasn’t yet updated their website to correct the mixed messaging around a central approach, or Startups simply got the information wrong, although once they do clear this up then it’s worth remembering that the cost of hardware (£275 when purchased separately) is still somewhat of an issue. Mind you the hardware cost can be deferred by paying +£5 per month extra on the monthly rental instead of a one-off cost.

Otherwise prices start at £9.95 per month (£19.95 after the first 3 months) for a basic 5Mbps (1Mbps upload) package with a tiny 2GB usage allowance, while paying £24.95 will get you a 10GB allowance and £44.95 gives you 25GB with unlimited overnight data. A free wireless N router is also currently being thrown into the mix.