This is a doubling of maximum speeds for Zen’s existing fibre optic broadband services offering download speeds of "up to 38Mbps" and upload speeds of “up to 9.5Mbps”. Only Zen’s lower priced entry-level fibre optic broadband package, with download speeds of "up to 38Mbps" and upload speeds of “up to 9.5Mbps”, will not be offering the new speeds.
Existing users of Zen’s Fibre Active, Fibre Pro, Fibre Office and Fibre Office Plus will be automatically upgraded without charge to the new faster speeds from 9th May and unlike other ISPs Zen’s existing customers will not be required to sign a new contract to take advantage of them. New customers will also be able to order these new services immediately. All Zen’s fibre products are available on a 12 month contract – the shortest fibre broadband contract available in the market.
In addition Zen’s Fibre Active products have now reduced in price to £29.50 +VAT, which is cheaper than BT’s equivalent business broadband product. Fibre Active is ideal for both occasional and fulltime home-office workers and small businesses. Fibre Active, like all Zen’s broadband products come with the option of eight static IP addresses at no extra cost.
In order to make it easier for Zen’s customers to access its award-winning broadband and fibre optic broadband services, Zen has reduced the price of the Technicolor TG582N wireless router from £50 ex VAT to £35 ex VAT. The TG582N is delivered free of charge with automatic set-up configuration for Zen services and features both a wireless N capability and an integrated 4-port switch.
“We believe that we have the strongest portfolio of fibre optic broadband products in the UK. Having worked with BT since the initial fibre optic broadband trials, we have a hands-on experience of the technology that other providers cannot match, and the latest, most up-to-date information on progress and future plans,” said Andrew Saunders, Head of Product Management and Marketing.
“It is important to us that we continue to develop these new services in line with our mission to provide the best ISP service in the UK. We are working hard to ensure we provide all our customers with the award winning level of service and support that they expect from us for these new services,’’ said Saunders.
Fibre optic broadband has the potential to revolutionise businesses, but Zen recognises that making the most of it will have an impact on data consumption. That’s why last month Zen doubled its usage allowances across its fibre broadband services. Customers of Fibre Pro can now use up to 200GB per month, Fibre Office users 400GB per month, and Fibre Enterprise and Fibre Enterprise Plus customers a staggering 1000GB.
Despite the doubling of its usage allowances, Zen is sticking firmly with the policy of no Fair Usage Policy (FUP) and no traffic shaping. This means that with Zen, unlike many other ISPs, users can enjoy their usage allowance at the fastest speed their connection can support at anytime, no matter what type of application and service they want to access or what type of media they wish to access.
Zen firmly believes that easy to understand usage allowances for its services is an up front and honest approach, that is a better solution for customers rather than hiding potential restriction in a FUP. To support its customers Zen provides simple mechanisms for customers to monitor their usage allowance. Zen believes the use of FUP and traffic shaping can be mysterious, confusing and even potentially misleading for customers and therefore does not implement either of these practices. A FUP is in effect additional T&Cs that may apply restrictions to "unlimited downloads" and means that many "unlimited" services are not what they appear to be.
To support the increase in usage limits and avoid FUP and traffic shaping, Zen is continually measuring the usage across its network and predicting future requirements. It then ensures that upgrades are implemented in a timely fashion so that capacity is available ready to satisfy actual demand. This will mean Zen’s customers can look forward to this year's Olympics safe in the knowledge that their online viewing won't be compromised.
The 'Check Your Speed' field on the all of Zen’s Broadband pages of www.zen.co.uk will now check for availability of fibre optic broadband services and return an estimated speed. The results provided are estimates of what speed the line is capable of supporting and are based on line length and quality. The actual speeds experienced can vary depending on the time of day, contention and the use of wireless networking.
Zen also provides telephone line services, Home Talk and Business Talk. Its telephone line services are available from £10.99 inc VAT per month, offering a one-stop-shop solution of broadband, telephone line and calls - all on a monthly contract and perfect partner to our fibre optic broadband. Transferring your existing telephone line to Business Talk or Home Talk is the ideal way to avoid recent price increases from other providers, up-front payments and long term contracts.