Karoo to launch £4.99 broadband deal
THE UK's first weekday Internet deal aimed at helping job seekers get online has been unveiled by a Hull-based telecoms company.
Kingston Communications, based on Carr Lane in the city centre, has announced the launch of a budget broadband package from December 1, exclusively for the firm's Karoo customers in East Yorkshire.
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Research has shown 83 per cent of employers in the Yorkshire and the Humber region are less likely to employ someone who does not have Internet skills.
The new 12 month contract costs £4.99 for the first three months then rises to £5.99 for the rest of the year. It provides users with an e-mail address and high speed Internet access from 8am until 4pm from Monday to Friday, with a slower dial-up service available outside these hours.
Anyone can sign up for the deal but Kingston Communications – a partner in the Mail's Bounce Back campaign, which aims to help the region out of recession – said development of the low cost package was sparked by the need to address rising unemployment in Hull and the East Riding.
Cathy Philips, head of corporate communications at the telecoms firm, said: "We've been quite heavily involved in the Mail's Bounce Back campaign so we're acutely aware there are a lot of people out there who need work and we thought, how can we support them and help.
"As a local business we want people to have Internet skills and we want people to get back to work.
"The region's success is our success."
The offer comes after research by UK Online Centres showed that 83 per cent of employers in the Yorkshire and the Humber area admitted being less likely to employ someone who does not have Internet skills.
But the service could benefit anyone who is at home during the day, living on a tight budget from pensioners to single parents.
Ms Phillips said: "It's not necessarily just for job seekers, if you're at home a lot or retired then it could be useful."
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by Charles, in a fug
Wednesday, November 11 2009, 2:06AM
“Cannabis farm found in empty Hull pub
Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 06:30
A cannabis farm has been discovered at a city centre pub.
Officers swooped on the Waterloo Tavern in Great Union Street on Sunday after a member of the public reported suspicious activity.
The pub has been closed for around three years but is believed to have opened for a few weeks earlier this year.
A 53-year-old Hull man is currently in police custody in relation to the incident.
Five men aged between 22 and 53-years old and a 28-year-old woman, all from Hull, were arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis.
All very smokey; you can't comment on this. Oh no sir!”
by The technology is utter crap and no, t fit or suitable for the purpose
Wednesday, November 11 2009, 12:31AM
“I have no faith whatsoever, in any IT technology, it's crap, it let's you down constantly, it's not secure, and we should go back to how life was before this abomination”
by someone, who knows these things
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 10:23PM
“How often will it take before people understand???? Having no competition is not KC's fault - they charge the same price as BT to give access to other providers but other companies wont come here - ASK OFCOM! Who would pay several million quid for expensive kit to connect for a measly return from less than 10 thousand users?”
by Alfa Isah, Hull
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 9:19PM
“3, Vodafone, T-Mobile, 02 and all them mobile broadband internet are no better than what KC offers. I've tried many of them. Many are really debt traps with severe frustration and irritation lurking for any unsuspecting customer.
Oh, and not to talk about their decepive foreign-based help desk staff without a shred of knowledge about sorting the myriad problems of these networks.
For light users, yes, they may be better than kc but for medium to heavy internetters, you quickly exhaust your monthly data allowance and you even end up paying higher cost for data thereafter.
These aspect of monthly data allowance often escapes customers when they see a £5 per month internet access advertisement and get overly excited. The real deal is that the heavy multimedia contents of many websites quickly eats up your monthly data allowance. And then you start paying hugely.
KC is not perfect. Agreed! But where is the better alternative?
BT, NTL and the other better competitors wouldn't come to Hull because of the seemingly less profitable business prospect here and the mildly hostile attitude of KC. KC has Hull wrapped up around their fingers and we are at their mercy. All said, is KC really that bad, compared to others? I personally don't think so but then again everyone to their own opinion.”
by Pete, e hull village
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 8:07PM
“I currently pay £19.95 monthly for a paltry 1.4MB download speed and £12 + monthly for line rental.
I'm in the process of switching back to BT.
£15 monthly for a 5.5Mb connection speed and £11 monthly line rental.
I feel that Karoo, having a monopoly in Hull, treat their customers with contempt”
by mike, hull
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 7:37PM
“can anyone tell me how much the broadband is on dail up after 4 pm and on the weekends”
by Paul, West Yorkshire
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 7:31PM
“Also, can I just add about the grass not always being greener: YES IT IS!
I've been with Pipex, Virgin Media (truly the best of the bunch if you can get it) and O2 - all are faster and cheaper, provide good support when needed (which is very rare) and no issues with bandwidth throttling, rate-shaping, being limited to making large downloads between midnight at 5am or whatever stupid guideline Karoo suggests.
Karoo is prehistoric by today's standards, it's laughable to think they tried to market the city of Hull as the world's first digital city back at the start of this decade - how wrong could they be?”
by Paul, West Yorkshire
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 7:22PM
“Richard, Hull: Politicians are not to be trusted, everybody knows that :-)”
by Drummer, Hull
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 7:21PM
“Er Pob, the grass is practically dripping with chlorophyll ..”
by Drummer, Hull
Tuesday, November 10 2009, 7:19PM
“Yawn, I get unlimited 8mb broadband with O2 for FOUR QUID a month in Sheffield - and it works at peak times too.
When I come home to Cott though I get 275mbs at peak time which my partner pays the thick end of £20 for.
I spoke to KC yesterday and the bloke on the phone just admitted their network wasn't good enough.
Hull is so backwards in terms of internet it's almost untrue.”