A new online poll has revealed that consumers do not feel that ‘free’
laptop deals offer good value for money. Among respondents to the poll, conducted by
Broadband Genie, just 15 per cent felt that the deals represented good value, compared to more than 60 per cent who felt the deals do not offer enough for the money paid over the course of the contract.
The
mobile broadband market has swelled hugely in recent months and years, with
mobile phone operators turning their attention to
internet products. In a bid to attract new customers,
broadband providers such as 3,
Orange,
O2 and
Vodafone are offering customers free
laptops or
netbooks if they take out an 18 or 24 month
mobile broadband deal . The
notebook PCs on offer are increasingly powerful as competitors vie to attract new customers.
The mobile broadband products offered to consumers are certainly inferior to a fixed line service. Consumers are increasingly aware of this, with media reports recently exposing the slower speeds of mobile broadband deals. Whilst broadband providers advertise speeds of up to 7Mb in some cases, actual performance is considerably less than this in the majority of cases.