Get your mitts on free broadband!

As the 'Digital Britain' report is released on all things techie, we show you how to get discounted and, in some cases, free broadband.

Last October, the minister for communications, technology and broadcasting, Lord Carter began work on a report dubbed Digital Britain.

The report tackled everything from broadband speeds to the future of internet regulation, and the findings were published last week.

One of the main commitments was to provide all households in the UK access to at least 2Mbps broadband by 2012.

The government also wants to make it more affordable for those who aren't already online, through the previously launched £300m Home Access scheme which aims to get PCs into low income homes.

This is good news, but I also think Mr Carter has a big task on his hands. With speeds of up to 50Mbps already on offer, those already in the broadband fast lane may not think 2Mbps broadband is hard to achieve.

But while urban areas have been surfing at high speeds for some time, for some people living in rural areas, even having broadband is a luxury, with many users still stuck with a dial-up service.

According to the Commission for Rural Communities, 42% of the rural population in England are currently struggling on speeds below 2Mbps. So delivering these promises is likely to be a harder task than expected.

Taxing your phone line

By far the most controversial part of the report was a proposed 50p monthly fee for every household with a fixed telephone line - even if you don't use the internet. This will be used to create a Next Generation Fund to help roll out broadband to everyone.

You won't be able to opt out of the charge, although there will be exemptions for poor households on 'social telephony schemes' (such as BT Basic) and some charitable organisations.

Planning ahead

Despite these broadband bombshells, 2012 is still a long way away, especially in the world of broadband, and there's no reason why you shouldn't be searching for a better deal now.

Last month, John Fitzsimons looked at a range of bundled and non-bundled deals that could make switching worthwhile.

However, if you have an Orange pay monthly contract, you might be able to get 8Mbps broadband with 10GB worth of downloads for nothing.

Orange's Home Starter package is available to 65% of the population - although if you're part of the other 35%, you'll have to fork out £9.79 a month.

Price isn't everything

Free broadband sounds good in principle, but just as a word of warning, I have heard tales on the grapevine of Orange's poor service and customer support when it comes to broadband.

Orange came second worst overall in a recent broadband survey, and also took the crown for worst customer support. So do your research before you sign on the dotted line.

Another provider which offers free broadband - and better customer service - is Sky.

If you're a Sky customer with Skytalk, you can get 2Mbps Sky broadband free of charge (£60 installation fee applies for the base package).

However, coverage is yet again a requirement to land this deal, and until Lord Carter and Co.'s changes are put into practice, you'll have to pay more if you're not in the Sky Network area.

Cheap deals

Everyone wants something for nothing, but with so much competition around, even paid-for broadband is getting cheaper.

The cheapest, and one of the best packages around is Plus.net Value, which offers speeds of up to 8Mbps, a free router and free setup for just £5.99 a month (18 month contract applies).

You also have a 10GB monthly download allowance, although Plus.net does allow you to surf from midnight to 8am free of charge. If you're a keen downloader, one of the ways to avoid paying extra charges is to do the bulk of your downloads during these hours.

It's also worth mentioning that this package is managed by traffic shaping, which means that applications which use a lot of bandwidth (such as downloading music and movies) may be slowed down during peak hours to ensure that a steady level of service is available to all users.

If you don't like the idea of different applications having different priorities, O2 does not use traffic shaping. And if you're an existing customer, you can get £5 off the price of all its plans, which means its standard package costs just £7.34 a month.

Plus, until 30 June, O2 is also offering an extra four months free broadband if you sign up via its special link.

For some of us at least, getting access to broadband at all is still just a waiting game. But for the rest of us, the choice is getting bigger, and download speeds are getting faster.

We may not be up there with the likes of South Korea and Japan in terms of speeds yet, but when it comes to price, there's no reason why you can't be at the front of the pack now.

Know your online shopping rights / Beware of rising prices and shrinking sizes!