The installation cost for Zen’s Fibre Optic Broadband services will now be reduced by 25% from the usual price of £80 ex VAT to £60 ex VAT.
“To make it even easier for new customers to access Zen’s award-winning broadband and Fibre Optic Broadband services we are reducing the installation cost by 25%. 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.
Last week Zen announced it is doubling the maximum speeds of its existing Fibre Optic Broadband services from the 9th May and is now offering download speeds of "up to 76Mbps" and upload speeds of “up to 19Mbps”. Only Zen’s lower priced entry-level Fibre Optic Broadband service, with download speeds of "up to 38Mbps" and upload speeds of “up to 1.9Mbps”, will not be offering the new speeds.
Zen has also reduced the price of its Fibre Active products to £29.50 +VAT, which is cheaper than BT’s equivalent business broadband product. Together with the Technicolor TG582N wireless router which has been brought down 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.
Existing users of Zen’s Fibre Active, Fibre Pro, Fibre Office and Fibre Office Plus will be automatically upgraded to the new faster speeds without charge 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.
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 Optic 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.