Rural UK ISP Gigaclear Adds 100Mbps Package and Hikes Prices UPDATE

At a time when most broadband ISPs are discounting their prices for Black Friday it’s been spotted that one rural full fibre (FTTP) provider, Gigaclear, has done exactly the opposite. As well as introducing a new 100Mbps (symmetrical speed) tier and Mesh WiFi system, they’ve also hiked the monthly prices of their old plans by an extra £4.

One other key difference is that their top two packages – 300Mbps and 900Mbps – now also bundle their Linksys broadband router with “Smart WiFi” (i.e. a mesh Wi-Fi system). Oddly this mesh system appears to be mandatory on their top two plans, although you can optionally add it to their slower packages at extra cost.

The provider is also promising no mid-contract price hikes to those who sign-up to their new packages. Otherwise their plans all include unlimited usage, an 18 month contract term, Linksys router, £30 one-off activation fee and free installation.

Superfast 30 Mbps – £39 per month

Ultrafast 100 Mbps – £44 per month

Ultrafast 300 Mbps with Smart WiFi – £49 per month

Hyperfast 900 Mbps with Smart WiFi – £79 per month

Credits to Stéphane for spotting.

UPDATE 2:38pm:

We’ve had a response from Gigaclear.

A Spokesperson for Gigaclear said:

“Following feedback from customers we understand that WiFi coverage in rural homes can be an issue. We have created the new 300Mbps and 900 Mbps packages with Smart WiFi, our MESH service included. Two Linksys Velop routers retail at over £200 so, the slight increase in monthly payments still represents great value for our customers.

Our new 100mbps symmetrical service was created to fill the gap between 30Mbps and 300Mbps, for customers who want Ultrafast speeds but do not yet have a need for Smart WiFi or even faster speeds.

Existing Gigaclear customers pricing will not be affected by this change. However, we will be giving them the option to move to one of the new packages or add Smart WiFi to their existing package. We will be in touch with customers directly over the coming weeks.”