Pay £2.49 a month for broadband from Direct Save Telecom

Direct Save Telecom has launched an unbelievable deal, offering broadband for just £2.49 a month!

How much do you pay for your home broadband? £20 a month? £10? Maybe even less, if you're a bargain-hunter?

Whatever you're paying, it seems that we're all routinely over-paying for Internet access. I say this because this week I've seen what must be the cheapest-ever broadband deal.

A dirt-cheap deal

Direct Save Telecom ('Direct Save') has launched Britain's best broadband deal: £2.49 a month for two whole years. That's not a misprint -- it really is offering two years of internet access for a total of £59.76, spread over 24 months.

Direct Save is an independent telephone service provider created in 2003 to offer low-cost, high-quality communications services to its customers. It aims to cut hundreds of pounds a year from the average family’s telecoms bill.

One deal that appears to offer similar value is Tesco Broadband, which costs £2.50 a month for 12 months, a total of £30 for the first year. However, in year two, Tesco's monthly fee leaps to £6.50, which totals £78 a year.

Therefore, over two years, Tesco's broadband costs £108, compared to less than £60 for Direct Save's deal.

One deal that does beat Direct Save's offer is Primus Saver, which costs £1.20 a month, but adds an activation fee of £20 to your first monthly bill. Thus, in year one, this broadband costs £34.40, falling to £14.40 in year two.

Over two years, this totals £48.80, but you must transfer your landline to Primus, which charges £12.79 a month for line rental. Also, Primus Saver limits your data usage to 20Gb a month.

Digging deeper into Direct Save

However, delving deeper into this deal, there are more benefits on offer, but also more charges to pay. Here's Direct Save's broadband offer in full:

• £2.49 a month
• Minimum contract length of 24 months
• Must take Direct Save's line rental at £12.85 a month (BT charges £14.60)
• Up to 24Mb broadband speeds (typically 13Mb)
• 20Gb monthly data usage
• Free UK calls evenings and weekends
• Free set-up (worth £24.95)
• Free wireless router (worth £35)
• UK-based freephone broadband support, 24/7
• UK-based customer services

Overall, this is a pretty good deal for broadband. However, there is a £50 cancellation deal if you terminate your contract early. Also, Direct Save's telephone charges, while cheaper than BT, are much higher than those charged by alternative call providers such as 1899.com. Here are Direct Save's call costs:

While cheaper than BT, these call charges are still far too high for my liking. Hence, I suspect this is where Direct Save makes its money over the two-year life of its contract. In effect, steep call charges help to bring down the cost of Direct Save's broadband to just £2.49. Thus, if I were to switch to Direct Save, then I'd always use an alternative call provider when dialling.

Also, I've read mixed reviews online of Direct Save's reliability and customer service, so you should definitely do your own research before signing up.

Always check the contract

Thanks to what I call 'confusion marketing', choosing any utility service -- such as gas and electricity, home phone or broadband -- is incredibly complicated. Each deal has its own hidden benefits, bonuses and charges, which make it almost impossible to compare deals without outside help.

That's why I would urge you to use an independent, expert comparison service, such as that provided by our award-winning partner, BroadbandChoices.co.uk.

More on broadband:

BT launches phone and broadband deal for £3.50 a month

Third of homes suffer slow broadband speeds

Broadband and home phone prices set to fall

Broadband speeds still lagging behind advertised rates

Virgin Media Broadband: How Richard Branson and Usain Bolt tricked me