O2 launches SME broadband services

O2 has launched new broadband packages aimed at home workers, sole traders, professionals and small to medium-size offices.

The new SME business packages, available from Monday, come in two varieties and offer differing connection speeds and security, the company said on Monday.

The Home Office package will support two PCs and cost £20.50 per month excluding VAT for non-O2 customers, or £5 less for existing customers. The package includes up to 20Mbps download speed, 1.3Mbps upload speed and two McAfee licences for business computers. It comes with a 150GB usage allowance.

The next tier, called Office 10, supports up to 10 computers and includes 10 McAfee licences. It has the same 20Mbps download limit but doubles upload speeds to 2.5Mbps. It also doubles the usage allowance, up to 300GB per month. It will cost existing customers £22.50 per month, excluding VAT, and new customers £27.50.

Both packages include the option of a static IP address at no extra cost.

We understand just how vital internet access is to our customers in terms of managing their day-to-day operations.

– Simon Devonshire, O2

"We understand just how vital internet access is to our customers in terms of managing their day-to-day operations," Simon Devonshire, general manager of small and medium business at O2, said in a statement. "We also know the pressure they're under to cut costs, save time and improve efficiency."

O2 is offering subscribers of either package access to its 'Fast Fix' service for £10 extra per month. This option "promises a speedier fix" for any problems with the service by flagging faults and arranging necessary changes, O2 said. It also provides customers with a broadband dongle to help them through any downtime.

In April, BT announced it wanted to extend the reach of its copper network for up-to-20Mbps broadband services to cover 80 percent of the UK, before the end of 2011. An Ofcom report in March found that the real speed received by O2 customers on up-to-20Mbps packages was between 9.9 and 11.6Mbps; the UK average for BT's comparable package was 6.9-8.7Mbps, Ofcom said.