Orange rebrands Wanadoo – and offers free broadband
Orange has announced it is bringing together mobile, fixed-line and broadband, rebranding Wanadoo as Orange in the process and offering free broadband with some mobile packages.
Customers signing up to a pay monthly mobile contract over £30 per month will get free broadband. The broadband package (previously £17.99 a month) includes a wireless modem and Orange Wireless & Talk – Orange’s VoIP service, which offers free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. For an extra £6 per month, customers can sign up to the Orange Anytime package which gives them free calls to UK landlines. In addition, if they are an Orange Pay Monthly customer they will also be able to register for free calls to Orange mobiles (via the Wireless & Talk service).
Some services are subject to minimum contracts. Orange also mentions a proposed One Phone product, which lets you use the same phone over your fixed or mobile line depending on whether you are inside or outside the home, which sounds a bit like BT’s Fusion service.
None of this is particularly new (you can get a similar deal via NTL/Telewest already) and the "free" broadband only comes when you shell out for other Orange services, much like the recent Carphone Warehouse "free broadband" offer that combined the TalkTalk fixed line phone service and broadband. With the added line rental, that service costs around £21 per month.
Orange website
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