Vodafone Offers Smart Router And Fibre Broadband To SMBs

Vodafone is now offering superfast broadband services to millions of small businesses across the UK, hoping its router technology and smart diverting will help it compete against other providers.

The Newbury-based operator’s service is powered by a combination of the Openreach network and the Cable & Wireless (CWW) infrastructure it acquired in a £1 billion takeover in 2012, giving it a total fibre footprint of more than 22 million homes and businesses.

Vodafone SMB broadband

The company says its track record of providing services to local and central government, police and the NHS demonstrate its ability to deliver a fast, reliable and secure broadband service. The cheapest package is £30.99 per month excluding VAT but including line rental.

“Superfast, reliable, secure broadband is absolutely essential to keep the country’s businesses in business,” said Phil Mottram, enterprise director of Vodafone. “We’ve invested heavily in our own dedicated network of enterprise quality, fibre optic broadband and can now offer a broadband and landline phone package that’s feature rich with the benefit of enhanced service levels.”

A consumer service was launched late last year as Vodafone sought to keep up with rivals in a converging communications market which can offer ‘quad play’ packages of landline, broadband, mobile and television services.

The ‘connect’ router is seen as a key differentiator, offering users greater control over an SMB network. An application can set up guest access for contractors and customers and give priority to certain devices, while ‘beamforming’ technology offers a superior Wi-Fi connection to compatible machines.

Other extras include static or multiple IP addresses, unified customer service and 4G-powered mobile Wi-Fi. Smart divert automatically sends calls from office to mobile if a user is out and about.