CAMBRIDGE, England, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --     It has been a tough 12 months, with the credit crunch turning into a
full-blown recession, but it hasn't stopped the broadband market's continued
growth. According to telecoms regulator Ofcom there were almost 17 million
broadband connections in the UK by the end of September 2008, and the number
is still rising.

But as purse strings are drawn tighter and competition for customers hots
up between the broadband providers, there is plenty of good news out there
for cash-strapped broadband bargain hunters. There are some great
recession-busting deals out there; Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling looks
at some of the best ways to save when you're looking to get online for less.

Lose the landline

Everyone should consider mobile broadband; you don't need to have a 
landline connection, which will probably save you around GBP10 per month, and 
you get the flexibility of taking your laptop on your travels too. For those 
in good 3G reception areas, maybe it's time to give up that fixed-line 
connection for good? If you aren't using the internet for streaming video, 
downloading large volumes of content or gaming, just keeping a mobile 
broadband connection is increasingly viable. To simply check email, browse 
social network sites or surf the web, a 1GB download allowance per month may 
be more than adequate. If you can do without a shiny new laptop, Orange, 
Vodafone and 3 all offer dongle-only mobile broadband contracts for GBP10 per 
month or less, with Vodafone boasting speeds up to 7.2Mb.

Bargain for a bargain

With the fixed-line market close to saturation, if you already have 
broadband you can be sure your current supplier won't want to lose you. If
the service is right but the price is wrong, there's no harm in ringing them 
and saying so; it can be surprising how much rope is given to retention teams 
when it comes to keeping customers on board. Take a look around for another 
deal, then call up your current provider and tell them you're thinking about
leaving; when you get through to the retention team, explain the deal you've
seen and see if they'll match or beat it - you might be surprised by the
results.

Lap up a laptop

So-called free laptop deals are getting better all the time, due to an
increasingly competitive market. All five of the mobile broadband providers
are now competing, with O2's late arrival sure to spark yet another round of
price cutting as everyone scrabbles for those lucrative 24-month consumer
contracts. You need to be sure you're getting what you actually want, but if
that laptop is the one for you it can be a good way to finance an expensive
bit of kit. If you're genuinely on the hunt for a good netbook all-rounder,
for example, the Asus Eee PC 904 has been getting good reviews for its clear
8.9-inch screen, great battery life and large keyboard. T-Mobile has it on a
24-month GBP25 per month deal, including 200 free texts per month and a free
dongle.

Bread and butter broadband

You don't need to go for a whiz-bang quadplay deal from the big players 
to get online. If you're happy with your telephone and TV, there are some
broadband-only bargains out there. Eclipse Internet, Orange and Plusnet all
offer services for less than GBP10 per month, with Eclipse offering speeds up
to 24Mb, Orange free broadband to its mobile customers and Plusnet a free
router and free broadband calls. There are also lots of deals offering
incentives such as 'three months free'. These can sound good on paper, but it
can also be a gimmick to dress up a pretty ordinary offering. Get that
calculator out and see what it really means for the whole length of the
contract.

Playing the game

Online games are getting better all the time, with both consoles and PCs 
now gateways to the ultimate challenge for gamers: player vs player. Serious
gamers don't want to compromise on their connection, but that doesn't mean
there aren't good deals to be had. Be Broadband was recently adopted as the
ISP of choice for the British eSports Association, the official governing
body for competitive gaming in the UK, and it has a match winning offer on
the table too; sign up to any of its 'unlimited' tariffs online before the
end of March to get yourself a free GBP40 Game voucher, GBP40 credit or a
year's subscription to gadget mag T3.

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk and http://mobile.broadbandgenie.co.uk
give consumers access to the best online deals from all the major broadband
companies, with hundreds of packages to choose from.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Broadband Genie is the UK's leading independent broadband and mobile
broadband comparison website, providing consumers with an unbiased source of
information on broadband prices and contracts and allowing them to compare
broadband providers in an independent. Broadband Genie was launched in March
2004 as the first dedicated consumer comparison site for broadband, while
Mobile Broadband Genie was the first independent mobile broadband comparison
site, launched in October 2007. Both sites are among the most popular sites
in their respective fields, and regularly feature in the national press.
http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk / http://mobile.broadbandgenie.co.uk

2. All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling 
at Broadband Genie: t +44(0)844-415-5531 / f +44(0)871-6618553 /
m +44(0)7908-327303 / chris.marling@genieventures.co.uk .

Source: http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk