Posted: 21st Sep, 2007 By: MarkJ
The ISP division of
Orange UK (France Telecom) has finally announced the introduction of its new line-rental and broadband bundle - '
Orange Home Max' & '
Home Starter':
Orange Home Max includes a landline connection offering free weekend and evening calls as well as an
Orange Livebox the wireless modem that gives you broadband coverage wherever you are in your home. A second new package,
Orange Home Starter, has launched for customers who want to keep their existing fixed line supplier but still want to move over to
Orange Broadband.
Customers can also make free international calls with an inclusive
VoIP line. They will also be able to benefit from the launch of
Oranges digital TV service later this year.
Much as previously reported,
Orange will support the introduction of these new services with a whopping £5 million marketing campaign. Meanwhile the package details are as follows:
Home Starter - £12 per month (Direct Debit):
(£5 per month for
Orange mobile customers, saving £7 per month)
Includes unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines starting 01 and 02 from a home phone (fair usage applies)
Includes a Siemens wireless router with speeds up to 2 Meg. Perfect for downloading music, photos and browsing the internet
6GB monthly download usage allowance, enough for browsing the internet, downloading music and photos
Includes McAfee Privacy service
Home Max - £24 per month (Direct Debit):
(£15 per month for mobile customers, saving £9 per month)
Includes line rental
Includes a state of the art Livebox wireless modem with speeds up to 8 Meg (dependent on distance from exchange). Great for everything you can do with 2 Meg but faster, as well as downloading films and large files as well as hooking up with a games console or other computers around the home
Includes unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines starting 01 and 02 from a home phone (fair usage applies)
Includes a second
VoIP line with inclusive anytime calls to UK landlines starting 01 and 02 and to landlines in 30 countries and all
Orange mobile numbers, via an active broadband connection using a phone plugged into the Livebox
Unlimited downloads (fair usage applies)
Keep your existing phone number
Includes McAfee Privacy service
Typically paying by methods other than Direct Debit increases the price of both options by an addition £1 per month, likewise both will be subject to an 18 month contract. There's also the usual mix of e-mail/webmail services and 150MB webspace.
Overall
Orange's pricing and service may not undercut TalkTalk's package but are competitive with most of its other rivals. However the provider still needs to overcome some issues with service and support quality.