University Broadband: Broadband Genie Gives Students Five Ways to Save

PR Log (Press Release) – Oct 01, 2009 – “When it comes to student broadband, undergraduates must be proactive about reducing their bills,” says Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling. “Decide what you need – rather than what you want, what friends have, or what you had back home. You need to get essays researched and check your email: do you need three different broadband bills for that? Even if you do, how much data do you really need?”

The proposed fees hike could cost students over £1,500 per year, close to £150 per month, but some could save more than half of that by simply bringing their broadband bills up to date.

Marling continued: “When did you last check your contracts against the market? It’s hard to manage your budget at university after being in different circumstances (living at home, full-time employment etc). It can be easy to take what you’re paying for granted when you can afford to, and Direct Debits make it easy to forget the costs, so make sure you revisit you broadband bills and see what you can save.”

1) Broadband on your mobile (possible saving: £60/month): When broadband came to phones it was a great gimmick, and the latest handsets make a lot of their capabilities, but can you afford the extra expense? The top-end iPhone tariff at O2 is more than £70/m: its cheapest Simplicity contract is less than £10/m. Do you really need to pay more to update Facebook and check the football scores?

2) Mobile broadband (possible saving: £20/month): If you’ve been using mobile broadband for a while you could be paying way over the odds: even now there are deals costing £30/m that don’t include a laptop, more costly than some subsidised inclusive laptop deals. Are you paying for more data than you're using, or could you change to a pay as you go deal (£2 per day at T-Mobile, or £10 per GB elsewhere) or a £10/m tariff (3 Broadband)?

3) Fixed-line broadband (possible saving: £20/month): Everyone would like 50Mb fixed-line broadband, but 99 per cent of us don’t need it. People find they get upgraded as speeds and allowances go up, without realising cheaper deals come in under the radar that will meet their needs. Many people paying £30 or more per month could often halve that by switching broadband providers to, for example, PlusNet or Tiscali.

4) Multiplay deals: You can often save a lot by getting more than one service from the same company, which is becoming even simpler as they diversify more. Orange mobile phone contract customers can get free fixed-line broadband, for example, while O2 mobile customers can get broadband discounts too.

5) Can your uni help?: It's worth looking into your university's Wi-Fi set-up. Many halls and campuses have free Wi-Fi, although it can be erratic: ask around to see if it can be relied on. Your university may also run hire purchase schemes on PCs/laptops, but compare them to what's available online elsewhere.

ENDS