Orange package to include free business broadband

Small-business customers on Orange's Solo mobile plan will be able to get free broadband from the company for the length of their contract.

Orange announced its 'Broadband for Business' offer on Tuesday, alongside various consumer-related updates. These include a similar deal for non-business customers on monthly plans, and modifications to Orange's home-broadband plans that give customers 'unlimited' downloads — that is, within the constraints of its fair-use policy.

Orange did not say precisely when it will launch Broadband for Business, but has indicated that this will happen sometime later this year. According to the carrier, the deal will offer fair-use "unlimited" downloads and speeds of up to 8Mbps.

Also included will be "free business-grade customer support" and "managed installation", Orange said in a Tuesday statement.

However, Orange has not yet detailed what sort of service-level agreement, if any, might accompany the deal. ZDNet.co.uk asked the operator about this on Tuesday, but was told full details of the offer would only be released at launch.

The spokesperson also said the current technical specifications of Orange's broadband offerings for small businesses and home workers were "subject to change for the free Broadband for Business offer".

Also on Tuesday, Moneysupermarket.com published its quarterly broadband-connection speed table, seeing Orange enter the top three for the first time with an average speed of 3Mbps on its "up-to-8Mbps" service. By doing so, Orange pushed Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk service out of the top three. O2 was in first place with 4.95Mbps, and Sky in second place with 3.63Mbps.

"Our tests have shown O2 is not just an overnight success — it's establishing itself as one of the best broadband providers on the market," said Rob Barnes, Moneysupermarket.com's broadband chief, in his company's Tuesday statement. "With Orange also pushing its way into the top three, mobile networks are dominating the [8Mbps] market at the moment, although whether Orange can maintain consistency remains to be seen."