UK ISP ZYBRE Launches Pay Weekly Broadband and Phone Plan
Cloud gaming ISP ZYBRE has today launched somewhat of a unique (or niche) new broadband and phone tariff to “help manage the cost of household bills“, which charges from just £5.99 per week for a download speed of up to 40Mbps on a “52-week contract” (12-month minimum term). There’s also a 0.5Mbps package coming.
The price point of £5.99 is actually a discounted rate for the initial 12-month term, which rises to £6.99 thereafter (there is also a one-off £29 activation fee to pay too). Customers are free to upgrade – at any time – without penalty to any other ZYBRE tariffs and can also add an IP-based landline (phone) replacement service to this for an additional £1.30 a week with unlimited UK calls.
The new tariff, which is due to go live on 2nd September 2022, is available to those covered by Openreach’s hybrid-fibre FTTC (VDSL2 / SOGEA) and full fibre FTTP networks. But in some locations covered by MS3 and F&W’s full fibre networks, they’ll also be able to offer the same price but with speeds of up to 100Mbps.
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Customers will also receive a router and 12-months access to Tastecard.
Tim D, Sales Director, said:
“We’ve seen a huge growth in Fullfibre availability but, Not all customers require the fastest speed. It’s important we give options so all customers can find the right tariff and choose how they pay.”
ZYBRE claims that its “new tariff is the best value internet and landline replacement combined bundle nationally“, although when viewing it as more of a monthly cost and adding in the activation fee, the package isn’t all that different from what a lot of other providers can offer. We’re also not entirely sure how much of an advantage it is to be paying a weekly rate while still tied into a 12-month term.
However, this isn’t the last of ZYBRE’s niche package options, since the ISP also plans to release a 0.5Mbps speed plan for landline-only customers in October 2022. Openreach has long offered a 0.5Mbps FTTP tier for precisely this sort of usage (here), although very few – if any – providers have actually launched a related package yet. Naturally, a speed of 0.5Mbps isn’t much good for anything these days, except voice connectivity.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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£29 up-front setup, £26.03 per month initially, rising to £30.37 per month after 12 months. And no phone service included.
I would see value in this if the price were to *fall* after 12 months, once the cost of the router and installation charges are paid off. But no.
Apart from the 12 month contract, you’re better off with Plusnet or Talktalk.
That’s expensive.
Now TV is currently £21 per month for full up to 80mbps FTTC. Monthly or yearly terms too.
Now Tv is basically Sky.
MTH Network sells the 0.5Mbps speed plan for £21.96
..another ISP to add :).
Couldn’t see that plan on their website though, do you have a direct link?
@Mark it’s under broadband tab then Openreach 🙂
https://www.mthnetworks.com/openreach-fttp/
Thanks Bawlk. Looks like we can’t list that ISP until they clearly publish their legal T&C’s, which we require to be shown before sign-up.
This feels like a package either to get attention and/or for a VERY specific type of customer e.g. paid weekly and doesn’t want monthly bills.
Sorry but with 0.5Mbps it is literally not possible to open any modern website without going for a coffee break. How this can help people in need looking for job over the internet or take a part in the video interview? Not sure if 0.5Mbps will be good enough for audio, if Teams for instance perform the checks and disallow you to join.
– “Sorry I can’t turn on the video because my internet is too slow”
– “So how would you like to work remotely for us?”
0.5mbit is for VOIP only. it isn’t meant to be used as a data service.
It’s just to get people off copper lines who just want a phone.
@Matt yeah I don’t think it even has equinox reduced pricing (though it or another Internet service needs to be used where FTTP is available for equinox pricing on other speeds).
BT only had 1.2 million voice only customers in late 2019 and that number is decreasing.
I wouldn’t be suprised if there was a 4g based option for voice only customers with sufficient signal, 0.5mbps costs £96 per year (£8 per month) plus a connection charge from Openreach. This isn’t including the negligible costs of backhaul and the cost of the voip service itself.
The 0.5mb plan is just for landline replacement only. Our solution includes unlimited calls and will cost less than most line rentals do currently.
Although we remember 0.5 being the bees knee’s in 2003 .