StellarDeals.co.uk Blog

Important site redesign. Last post on this blog!

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:47:18 GMT

We have redesigned Stellar Deals and are now focusing more on bringing you the best deals and special discounts available. Up until now, this information was available in this blog and the rest of the site was dedicated to comparison tables and informational guides. From now on, all of the latest deals and special discounts will be available in the main part of the website. This will included latest deals, special offers and discount codes for broadband, home phone, mobile phone, digital TV, game consoles, MP3 players and laptops. Additional products will be added as time goes on. You can still find the comparison tables and buyers guides for broadband, mobile phone, digital TV and home phone by navigating to it from the left hand menu. We are committing to bring you the latest and best deals available and trust that the redesign will make it easier for you to find such deals. This blog will remain online, but will not be updated. If you subscribe to the RSS feed, you can pick up the new feed using this url: http://www.stellardeals.co.uk/rss.xml

Vonage, now your talking

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:57:31 GMT

Have you every wanted to try out a voice over internet service? There is no better provider to use then Vonage. Vonage are industry leaders with competitive packages and the superb call quality. There is no contract and a 30 day money back guarantee. Vonage has an impressive line up of features, including voicemail, 3 way calling, caller id, emergency calls and call diversion. Vonage is a genuine replacement for your traditional home phone. Vonage have the following great plans on offer: - Vonage Domestic Plan Unlimited calls to any landline in the UK or Ireland, any time of the day, for just £5.99 per month. Perfect if you make mainly UK local and national calls. New to Vonage is the World Plan one, two and three: - Vonage World Plan One Unlimited calls to any landline in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Europe (including France, Italy and Spain). Just £7.99 per month. - Vonage World Plan Two Unlimited calls to any landline in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and 6 additional countries. Just £7.99 per month. - Vonage World Plan Three Unlimited calls to any landline in the UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Finland, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary for just £7.99 per month. -> Visit Vonage

Free Motorola MOTORAZR V3 & Free Line Rental

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:58:07 GMT

The Phonespot is offering a free Motorola MOTORAZR V3 Lilac with free line rental on a Virgin Mobile contract. The line rental is normally £20 per month and the free line rental is available via cash back. The tariff includes 50 minutes and 100 texts a month and saves you £240. Order from the Phonespot More stellar mobile deals

Carphone Warehouse to offer free Orange Broadband

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:56:36 GMT

In an interesting twist in the negotiations between Carphone Warehouse and Orange, Carphone has reportedly agreed to offer Orange’s free broadband to some customers. This is despite the fact that Carphone Warehouse’s own broadband brand, TalkTalk, also has a free broadband package that is offered in store. More about broadband

Be Broadband Free Connection Offer

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:51:59 GMT

If you want super fast broadband, then look no further than Be. They offer the fastest broadband download speeds in the UK at 24 Mb. Be Lite is available with a 1Gb download cap for £14 per month. Be Unlimited is available with unlimited downloads for £24 per month. There is a £24 connection charge for both products. For a limited period, we are able to bring you a special offer with no connection charge, saving you £24. Just type promotion code FREE when placing your order. Offer ends March 31st. Click here to order Be broadband with no connection charge (do not forget to type the promotion code FREE when placing your order).

The Green Alternative to Ebay

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:43:41 GMT

The UK’s first auction site dedicated to ethical and eco friendly products has just been launched. The site is called Ecocentra.com and is being billed as the green alternative to ebay. So if you have any products that are environmentally friendly in nature, then head on over to Ecocentra. They are offering zero commission on all products listed before February 28th. The commission is normally 2% of the final selling price and there is no listing fee, which is a great deal compared with ebay. If you are a shopper with an ethical or green conscience, then you are bound to find a good deal at Ecocentra. Visit Ecocentra

Tiscali broadband & free weekend calls

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:58:44 GMT

Tiscali have launched a stellar deal: 1MB unlimited broadband and free weekend calls to UK landlines for just £9.99 for the first 3 months and £12.99 per month there after. That is a great deal for anyone who is interested in unlimited broadband and weekend calls. 1MB is not the fastest speed on the market, but it fine for the average user. And being unlimited means that you do not have to worry about how much you download. Visit the Tiscali website

BT improves download limit

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:56:29 GMT

BT has improved the download limit on all three of its broadband products. BT Broadband Option 1 now has a download limit of 5GB per month (was 2GB per month). BT Broadband Option 2 now has a download limit of 8GB per month (was 6GB per month). BT Broadband Option 3 now has unlimited downloads (was 40GB per month). Visit BT's site

BT 1 million VoIP customers

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:55:07 GMT

BT now has 1 million Voice over Internet (VoIP) customers on its BT Talk and BT Softphone products. That is over one third of its broadband customer base. Voice over Internet allows customer to make phone calls over the internet for a fraction of the cost of traditional phone calls. Find out more about VoIP

10 millionth UK broadband connection

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 10:54:30 GMT

BT Group is set to connect its 10 millionth UK household by the end of this week, as strong broadband uptake continues in the UK. See blog for details.

2006 Broadband, Mobile, Home Phone and Digital TV round up

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 15:05:38 GMT

It is the last day of the year and what a year it has been for the broadband, home phone, digital TV and mobile markets. See blog for full details

Switching broadband to become easier

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:58:56 GMT

Ofcom announced that broadband providers will be forced to issue a Migrations Authorsiation Code (MAC) to customers who want to switch providers, in a move to make switching providers easier. A Migration Authorisation Code from your current provider is required to switch to a new provider. You must obtain the number from your current broadband provider and give it to the new one before you can switch providers. Currently, broadband providers can voluntarily follow this process, but they do not have to. More than 75% of internet connections are now broadband connections. Competition is fierce and many customers capitalise on this by switching providers to lower cost deals. Some broadband providers attempt to block customers leaving by refusing to issue, or delaying, the MAC code. This move by Ofcom should make switching broadband providers easier. This is always good news, as healthy competition and ease of transfer is the best way to ensure prices continue to fall. Compare broadband deals

Vodafone back in bed with Carphone Warehouse

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:36:39 GMT

Vodafone has done a partial U-turn and has gone back to Carphone Warehouse. It had signed cancelled its contract with Carphone Warehouse and signed an exclusive deal with Carphone Warehouse’s rival, Phones4U. That prevented Carphone Warehouse from selling Vodafone contract pay monthly mobiles. See blog for details

NTL drops bid for ITV

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:27:41 GMT

NTL has dropped its £4.7 billion bid for ITV. It has decided there is no future in the deal. This move comes after News Corporation bought a 19.9% stake in ITV, effectively blocking NTL from take control of ITV. NTL said in its statement that it “submitted its views on this purchase to the Office of Fair Trading and OFCOM because it presents serious competition and public interest issues”.

Ofcom forces VoIP operators to warn customers

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:26:29 GMT

Ofcom is to force voice over internet (VoIP) operators to warn customers of the limitations of their service. These limitations include the inability to call 999, the phone line going dead in power cuts and the service not working when the buyer’s computer is turned off. See blog for full details.

BT's 21st Century Network underway

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:30:11 GMT

BT’s new telephone network, called the 21st Century Network, is well underway with the first call being made yesterday. The new network will use voice over internet (VoIP) technology to carry calls and will cost BT £10 billion to complete. It will be finished in 2010. The 21st Century Network will lead to lower costs to consumers, faster speeds and more services being made available. It certainly is the future of telecommunications and will be one the most advanced telephone network of its kind in the world.

BT to buy Plusnet

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 15:05:13 GMT

BT has made a cash offer of £67 million to buy broadband provider Plusnet. If accepted, Plusnet will remain as a separate brand. Plusnet has over 200,000 broadband customers. This is yet another example of a rapidly consolidating market with bigger providers continuing to swallow up smaller ones.

Orange and TalkTalk lose ground in customer satisfaction survey

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 19:10:53 GMT

Orange and TalkTalk have lost ground in a customer satisfaction survey released by uSwitch. They came joint bottom in the survey for overall customer satisfaction. See blog for details.

Vodafone to offer broadband and phone bundle

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 17:07:43 GMT

Vodafone has announced that it will offer a broadband and home phone bundle, called At Home. See blog for details.

Sky Broadband exceeding expectations

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:25:35 GMT

Sky Broadband is exceeding expectations with more than 113,000 new orders and more than 1 million people expressing an interest in the service. The Sky Broadband service was launched in August of this year as Sky moved into offering the “triple play” products: broadband, digital TV and home phone.

Sky extends digital TV special offer

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 19:30:23 GMT

Sky has extended it digital TV special offer until Nov 30th. You can get Sky TV half price for the first three months and packages from £7.50 per month (£15 thereafter).

Dell Special Offer - Dimension 3100

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:35:34 GMT

Offer ends Nov 1st. See blog for details.

New Orange broadband deals

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 11:44:13 GMT

Orange has released a new set of broadband deals. See blog for details.

NTL:Telewest to move into the high street

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:33:35 GMT

NTL:Telewest are to start selling broadband, home phone, digital TV and mobile phones through Virgin stores from next year. See blog for details.

Free calls with Skype

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 07:24:01 GMT

Skype is offering free calls to UK landlines to users who buy credit for international or mobile calls. See blog for details.

O2 cuts the price of overseas roaming calls

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 07:42:20 GMT

O2 has cut the cost of making mobile calls while roaming overseas. See blog for details.

Iran Bans Broadband

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:36:42 GMT

The Iranian government has banned broadband. See blog for details.

iPod Mobile Phones

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 06:57:40 GMT

There is strong speculation that Apple is in the process of developing an iPod mobile phone and that they have trademarked the name “iPhone”. See blog for details.

A Mobile World

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 06:56:07 GMT

A study by Intelecon Research claims that 90% of the world’s population could have mobile coverage by 2010. See blog for full details.

Broadband customer service survey results

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 13:46:44 GMT

Results from Point Topic's latest broadband customer service survey.

The AOL TalkTalk Dilemma

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 07:51:13 GMT

AOL customer face a dilemma with the recent purchase of AOL by the Carphone Warehouse. Should they switch to TalkTalk's free broadband offer? See blog for full details.

Carphone Warehouse loses Vodafone deal

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:09:00 GMT

Carphone Warehouse will no longer be able to sell Vodafone monthly contract phones as Vodafone signs an exclusive deal with Phones4U.

Carphone Warehouse buys AOL UK

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:02:52 GMT

The Carphone Warehouse has purchased AOL UK for £370 million.

TalkTalk got it wrong

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:00:57 GMT

TalkTalk’s head, Charles Dunstone has admitted that they got it wrong when launching the UK’s first free broadband service. TalkTalk has been slammed by the BBC’s Watchdog programme. See blog for full details.

Nokia 6111 - save £405 on Orange

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:51:33 GMT

Save £405 on an Orange tariff with a free best selling Nokia 6111. See blog for details.

Virtually all European schools have internet access

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 08:10:54 GMT

According to an EU survey, virtually all European schools have internet access and nearly two thirds are connected via broadband.

Sky TV half price offer extended

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:54:45 GMT

Sky has extended its half price offer on its digital TV packages.

ntl Telewest offer "quadplay"

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:03:33 GMT

The newly merged ntl Telewest and Virgin Mobile has announced a bundled broadband, digital TV, home phone and mobile phone service for £40 per month.

New iPod nano released

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:14:22 GMT

Apple has released a new slimmer, brighter and better iPod nano. See blog for full details.

Orange to offer combined VoIP and mobile service

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:12:31 GMT

Orange has announched that it will launch a combined mobile and landline service. See blog for more details.

Carphone Warehouse to expand into the USA

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:48:32 GMT

The Carphone Warehouse looks set to expand into the USA.

Where next for broadband?

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:47:15 GMT

The broadband market has undergone great change in the last few years. But what kind of environment has this caused and where is the market heading?

Microsoft Zune to take on the Apple iPod

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:51:01 GMT

Microsoft is set to launch a new music player called Zune in an attempt to grab market share from the Apple iPod.

Mozilla Firefox the Internet Explorer beater

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:50:18 GMT

See blog for full details

Ofcom to cap mobile termination charges further

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:41:49 GMT

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, is proposing to cap mobile termination charges to 5.3 pence per minute. Termination charges are the fees that a mobile operator charges another mobile operator when a customer calls someone on their network. Termination charges are blamed for the relatively high cost of calling a mobile on a different network or calling a mobile from a landline. See the blog for more information.

Vodafone to offer broadband

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:28:23 GMT

Vodafone has struck a deal with BT that will allow it to offer broadband by the end of this year.

Pipex buys Toucan and Bulldog

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 11:47:16 GMT

Toucan and Bulldog has been purchased by Pipex for £24 million and £12 million respectively. See blog for full details.

BT Movio - watch live TV on your Virgin mobile

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:32:25 GMT

BT has launched called BT Movio, allowing customers to watch live TV on a mobile phone. See blog for full details.

China’s broadband explosion

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:31:12 GMT

China is about to pass the USA to become the largest broadband market in the world. See blog for full details.

Freetalk bought by Vonage

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:29:22 GMT

Vonage has purchased VoIP operator Freetalk from Dixons Store Group (DSG). See blog for full details.

Half price Sky Digital

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 09:24:51 GMT

Sky is offering half price digital TV. Visit the Stellar Deals blog for more details.

Samsung E900 Special Deal

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:21:44 GMT

The Phonespot have a fantastic deal on the top selling Samsung E900 phone. Visit www.stellardeals.co.uk/blog for more details.

BT cuts off Euro1Net

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 11:54:45 GMT

Customers of Euro1Net have had their broadband connections cut off due to a dispute between BT Wholesale and Euro1Net. BT Wholesale is the whole division of BT Group and leases broadband services to internet providers. BT Wholesale has suspended the service to Euro1Net because Euro1Net has not paid its invoices. Ofcom, the Governments regulator, is investigating the dispute. Euro1Net customers should be offered a refund and be able to switch to another provider, so soon as the existing broadband service is cleared from their line. In the mean time, Euro1Net customers are forced to use a dialup connection.

European Digital TV uptake to pass the US

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:27:10 GMT

A report from research group Datamonitor has indicated that the number of European households with Digital TV services will pass that of the UK by the end of this year.

Currently 100 million households in the US and Europe enjoy a Digital TV service. That number will rise to around 187 million by 2010.

The increase is partly helped by the switching off of the analogue signal in many European countries, including the UK. The European Commission would like the analogue signal to be switched off across all of the EU by 2012.

More information on the digital switchover.

Compare UK digital TV deals.

Mobile Penetration Passes 100%

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:19:47 GMT

According to IDC, mobile penetration has passed 100% in many European countries. Many experts believed the mobile market had reached saturation point and could no grow anymore. This has proved to not be the case, with a 7% year on year increase in mobile shipments in the 2nd quarter of 2006
This is partly due to 3G devices becoming available at affordable prices.

Nokia is still the main player in the market. Shipments of mobile devices in the 2nd quarter:

Nokia 14.5 million
Motorola 7.1 million
Samsung 5.1 million
Sony Ericsson 4.5 million

Compare UK mobile deals.