Telecoms providers: O2 Business broadband
While O2 has become a household name in the UK, few people know about the interesting history of this telecommunications provider. Also, many private customers of this carrier also do not know that O2 has developed a comprehensive list of services for businesses. Let’s have a look at O2’s company background and at O2 business broadband, one of their more interesting business products.
About O2
O2’s history dates back as far as 1985, when it was still a mobile carrier only and a subsidiary of British Telecom. Although it is still a mobile carrier, it now does plenty more, and has nothing to do with BT anymore.
A historical mobile carrier...
O2 was originally called Cellnet. Cellnet was created in 1985 as a 60/40 joint venture between BT Group, the umbrella organisation over the old British Telecom, and security services provider Securicor. Cellnet was used as the very first mobile carrier in the UK, in fact, in January 1985, Cellnet clients could use their mobile phones between Heathrow airport and BT Tower, the first serviced area in the UK.
... now owned by Telefonica and providing many other telecommunication services
In 1999, BT took over Securicor’s shares, renamed Cellnet O2 in... 2002, and in 2005, Cellnet was sold to Spanish carrier Telefonica. Under this new ownership, O2 took operational control of all Telefonica’s non-Spanish European mobile subsidiaries and started to diversify its operations, now doing internet plans, fixed telephone lines, and financial services. However, even if they are still operating under the 02 name, broadband and landline phone services are now owned by BSkyB.
O2 business broadband product
O2 business broadband is a basic but popular product of O2 when it comes to business telecommunication services.
O2 business broadband basic features
O2 business broadband is a broadband internet connection service for businesses. It does not use O2’s own optical fibre network, the biggest one in the UK after BT’s, as this connection type is reserved for O2 fibre broadband plan subscribers.
O2 business broadband comes in two packages: home worker standard and branch office standard. The former allows 150 gigabytes of usage per month and costs £12 to £14.50 per month, and the latter allows 300 gigabytes of usage per month for £18 to £20.50 per month depending whether you get the O2 mobile customer discount.
Optional services
Optional services to the O2 business broadband plan include:
- Additional static IP address to host websites or FTP servers for £10 per month each;
- Priority customer support to get problems fixed within 20 hours instead of 40 hours for £7.50 per month;
- Plug and play router, either wireless or wired for £42;
- Installation, which is in fact done by the subscriber and costs £40 - some may regard this as a fee rather than as an option.
