UK ISP SSE Launch 18 Months Free “Fibre Broadband” Offer

Utility provider SSE (Southern Electric), which also does phone and Internet services, has started offering their ‘up to’ 38Mbps and 76Mbps capable superfast “fibre broadband” (FTTC) services free for the first 18 months of service. But there’s still that nasty line rental fee to pay on top.

The discount only applies to the broadband side of SSE’s phone bundles and the ISP then charges £16 per month for their Line Rental, although oddly they don’t make it clear what the normal price will be after the initial 18 month term (you have to dig around a bunch of PDF’s to find that).

The ASA’s new advertising rules (here) should put an end to pricing like this from 31st October 2016, although we note that SSE’s promotion looks set to remain until 14th November 2016 (perhaps they didn’t read this week’s news yet).

Otherwise all of the three related bundles include an unlimited usage allowance (note: their Fair Usage Policy includes limited Traffic Management), free wireless router and an 18 month contract with a free subscription to their Internet Security Suite for the same length of time. Interestingly they also bundle in Anytime calls, which raises the total price by a few pounds.

SSE Superfast Fibre + Talk Anytime
* Download speeds of up to 38Mbps
* Inclusive local and national calls at any time, plus calls to 20 other countries

PRICE: £21 per month for 18 months (£41 per month thereafter)

SSE Superfast Fibre + Talk Anytime Plus
* As above, except..
* Inclusive calls any time of the day or night, plus calls to 20 other countries

PRICE: £23 per month for 18 months (£43 per month thereafter)

SSE Ultrafast Fibre + Talk Anytime
* As above, except..
* Download speeds of up to 76Mbps
* Inclusive calls any time of the day or night

PRICE: £21 per month for 18 months (£46 per month thereafter)

We’ve included the Line Rental cost into the prices above, which should give a clearer picture of total cost. A one-off connection fee of £50.00 is normally also applicable for SSE’s Superfast and Ultrafast packages, but this is current being offered for free.