Telecoms operator Vodafone UK has decided to give up on its aging fixed line 'Vodafone At Home' broadband ISP service, which largely vanished from their website earlier this year (here). At the time Vodafone denied it was planning to scrap the service and we even heard credible reports pointing to a revival alongside an IPTV product but this has not come to pass.

Instead the At Home service, which offered BT-based download speeds of up to 8Mbps alongside "unlimited" usage (FUP) and anytime calls with line rental for £25, consistently failed to keep up with an evolving market and was rarely given much publicity.

A newsletter has now informed Vodafone's remaining At Home subscribers that they will instead be migrated onto PlusNet UK, specifically PlusNet's Extra Broadband + Talk AnyTime package. This offers a similar price and features, albeit with a 60GB usage allowance instead of an "unlimited" one.


The migration process will begin on 7th February 2012 and Thinkbroadband notes that a detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page has been setup, which should help to answer any common queries that existing customers might have.

It's interesting to note that mobile operators, specifically those that have tried to enter the fixed line broadband market (e.g. Vodafone, O2, Orange), have all had problems. Vodafone failed to evolve and promote its product, while Orange suffered due to general service / support woes.

So far only O2 has managed to build up a good reputation but recent price hikes, especially for legacy customers, and a lack of superfast broadband has resulted in a decline as users slowly migrate to rival providers. It will be interesting to see whether mobile-only operators still dominate in ten years time.