Orange UK (Everything Everywhere) has today refreshed its Mobile Broadband packages and separately announced that all customers, including their Home Broadband ISP subscribers, will also be able to get a weekly film download every Thursday "at no cost" (except for the 35p text message charge, if you use that method to request the film).


Firstly Orange has replaced its old Mobile Broadband deals with a simplified series of Small, Medium or Large packages. Each is available on either a 1 month or 12 month contract term and the usual £5 per month discount for existing customers (not applied to the prices below) is available.

Small
Usage Allowance: 500MB
Dongle / USB Modem Cost: £10
Monthly Price: £10
Contract Term: 1 Month

Medium
Usage Allowance: 1GB + Unlimited WiFi via BTOpenzone
Dongle / USB Modem Cost: £5
Monthly Price: £15
Contract Term: 1 Month

Large
Usage Allowance: 3GB + Unlimited WiFi via BTOpenzone
Dongle / USB Modem Cost: FREE
Monthly Price: £30
Contract Term: 1 Month

Orange offers a selection of different USB Modems and Mobile Wi-Fi routers alongside their Mobile Broadband deals. Selecting the 12 Month contract usually makes this kit either a bit cheaper or completely free. Out of bundle data usage costs 5.1p per MB (UK) and a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) of 3GB a month applies to BTOpenzone's Wi-Fi service.

Elsewhere Orange has teamed up with Apple to offer any Home Broadband, Pay As You Go, Pay Monthly, Mobile Broadband or Business customer the chance to get a free weekly film download every Thursday through iTunes.

The Film To Go service is being provided as a compliment to Orange Wednesdays, which allows customers to have 2 for 1 cinema tickets every week. Under the new deal a customer simply texts FILMTOGO to 85060 or via the dedicated 'Orange Film To Go' mobile app or by logging onto the facebook.com/orangefilmclub page.

However at launch you can only select from a limited number of films (e.g. The Wrestler, The Ghost and Che: Part One), most of which were released a few years back. The download is also more of a rental and will be available for 30 days or for 48hrs from when users commence watching a title.

Orange claims that an average 2 hour film from iTunes is about 1-1.5GB (GigaBytes) in size and "will take approximately 18-24 minutes to download using a 5Mbps broadband connection", or 54 – 72 minutes for "an average two hour film in HD (3-4.5GB)".

The mobile operator warns users NOT to use their mobile data link for the download as it will incur additional charges and instead recommends using a fixed line and or Wi-Fi broadband connection; check you ISPs package first to make sure that it has the flexibility to cope.

As a side note, Orange is also offering a FREE £50 M&S (Marks and Spencer's) Voucher for any new Home Broadband subscribers who join their service.