Business focused ISP Claranet has revamped its SOHO division, which is dedicated to home users and small businesses, to offer a new range of up to 40Mbps capable "Super Fast FTTC Fibre Optic Broadband" packages.

The Optimal 2Mb FTTC service costs £36 inc. VAT per month (special launch offer), which sits about mid-way among the pack of supporting ISPs for affordability. Crucially Claranet makes some bold claims about being very good for multiplayer gaming ("superfast ping rates") and offering "unlimited downloads" (Fair Usage Policy).

Claranet Optimal 2Mb FTTC Package

•Up to 40Mb/s downstream speeds (minimum of 8Mb/s at peak times)
•Choice of 2Mb/s or 10Mb/s upstream speeds
•Unlimited downloads (FUP)
•Free engineer install
•Access to our business grade network
•Skilled UK based support
•12 or 24 month contract options
•Free Zxyel NBG4604 Wireless N Gigabit router

It's understood that the £36 per month special offer price only applies to those who take their 24 month contract deal, which is a very long commitment; FTTC prices are highly likely to fall over the same period. Apparently the normal package price is £50 per month.

We also attempted to hunt down Claranet's FUP, which warned that anybody "found to be using a disproportionate amount of bandwidth for your services at peak times [may] be asked to reduce your usage, or move to an alternative Service. Failure to remedy this situation may result in your Service being terminated or restricted.". Claranet does not make clear precisely what a "disproportionate amount of bandwidth" actually is.