Moneysupermarket.com has signalled its intention to move into the broadband comparison sector by soft-launching a channel (website) with a series of best buy tables:

The comparison engine is currently in prototype stage and expected to go live to consumers in Q4, 2006. To coincide with its launch, the broadband channel will be revamped to include additional services assisting the user understand what type of product is ideal for their needs.

Simon Nixon, Chief Executive at moneysupermarket.com, said: “We’ve been looking at launching into the broadband comparison market for some time now in response to calls from customers who say the broadband market is too confusing.

“The soft-launch of our broadband channel enables us to start working with the broadband industry, begin to understand what users want and how they interact with broadband product content.”

moneysupermarket.com is currently looking for broadband suppliers, partners and advertisers to work with on developing the full service channel.

The new broadband channel consists of a guide to broadband; a glossary of broadband terms, a feature looking at the best deals on the market and a series of tabbed best buy tables.

Jason Lloyd, broadband channel manager at moneysupermarket.com, said: “The content on the homepage is dynamic which enables us to change each part to see what users interact with the best. The top deals in the market feature, best buy tables and latest new product launches will be updated regularly to make sure the channel is kept up to date until the comparison tool launch and the channel revamp later this year.”

Similar services, such as the one offered by uSwitch.com, have come in for criticism over a number of areas. Concerns over the high commission requested of ISP's to be listed, a generally limited list (usually only the biggest providers) and poor technical comparisons are common.

The initial list does at least include some smaller providers, although this will need to grow significantly for a proper overview to be achieved. Hopefully MSM can do a better job than uSwitch, which shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve.