Free laptop computers - the story so far
13th November 2007
With
more than 69% of UK Internet users now connecting to the world wide web via
broadband and more than 200 different companies competing to offer broadband
services, so the market continues to get ever more competitive.
One of
the latest broadband market innovations has been the launch of a number of free
laptop computer deals, offering broadband tariffs that include a reasonably
high value laptop computer in return for an extended contract term. To check
availability in your area - click
here.
Leading the field back in July 2007 was PC World, who in
partnership with Orange, launched the first major free laptop computer offer
via 150 UK PC World stores. Despite some significant media exposure, this deal
ended within a number of weeks and it was speculated that the deal was deemed
to be financially unviable for the service providers. Not much was reported at
the time and the success of the promotion seemed not to have been reported. The
free laptop offered via this promotion was a low-end Avanti model valued at
around £300, with a specification that included WiFi, Celeron processor,
256Mb RAM and a 40Gb hard drive. At the time of launch, Niall O’Keeffe,
marketing director of PC World commented: “I am sure that the inclusion of
a free laptop will electrify the market.” and whilst this might not have
been the outcome, PC World did pave the way to other more promising free laptop
promotions.
On the 5th September 2007, the best free laptop offer to
date was launched in the UK by AOL Broadband and Carphone Warehouse. Unlike the
deals that went before, this offer featured an attractive and well specified
laptop, valued at around £450. AOL's free laptop offer hit the streets
with a major national marketing campaign and with 50,000 people already
registered before the initial launch date. Uptake of this offer was so fast
that the initial allocation of 100,000 Dell laptops was quickly revised from
100,000 to 160,000 units.
On offer via AOL / Carphone Warehouse was a
respectable Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop with an Intel Celeron 540 processor, 1Gb
memory, WiFi, 80Gb hard drive and Microsoft Vista Home. In return, the deal
required customers to sign up to AOL Broadband (Wireless plus) for 24 months,
with this service offering ADSL speeds of up to 8Mbps and an 40Gb monthly data
cap. To support the wireless element of this deal, a free Netgear wireless
router (worth £50) was included.
With this being such a
significant step-up from previous free laptop computer offers, there were no
doubt questions regarding 'the catch'. On the surface of things, there was no
catch and the deal was very much a win: win deal, with AOL gaining valuable
market share and 24 months of customer 'loyalty' in return for offering the
best free laptop deal to date. No doubt costs have also been recouped via
increased telephone calls revenue.
The latest free laptop computer offer
was launched by The Utility Warehouse (Telecom plus Plc) at the beginning of
November 2007. Whilst being a little known Company, The Utility Warehouse can
boast a customer base in excess of 200,000, who in turn subscribe to more than
500,000 customers. Via their Utility Warehouse Discount Club, this Company is
well known for offering significant savings across a wide range of utility
based services and for being one of a very small number of companies able to
offer a true multi-service, single billing system. In October 2007, this
Company's Broadcall service was rated best broadband and phone calls
combination in the UK's leading consumer magazine - Which.
This latest
free laptop computer offer takes the crown for the best overall deal to date
and as well as being significantly less expensive that AOL's deal, also boasts
the best laptop specification of all previous free laptop contenders. This
exceptional deal offers a high-value / high-spec Fujitsu Siemens laptop, with
1024Mb RAM, 1.7GHz Intel processor, 80Gb hard drive and a free wireless router.
Overall, the
Utility
Warehouse free laptop offers well over £550 of value, on top of an
already exceptional broadband package. It is understood that the number of
laptop offers available via this deal is strictly limited and there is
speculation that laptop stocks will quickly dry up.
To check
availability of free laptop computers in your area - click here.
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