Opal’s budget business broadband launch

NORTH West business telecoms provider Opal is targeting massive growth in the small and medium-sized business market, with the launch of a new broadband package.

The Warrington-based group, a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse, hopes its Opal Office Broadband product will drive market share among business customers from 2% market share to 20%.

The new product offers broadband with speeds of up to 24 Mbps and network priority for just £10 per month; nearly 60% cheaper than rival providers.

Paul Lawton, managing director of Opal for the last two years, said the company was hoping to shake- up the business broadband market in a similar fashion to sister company  Talk Talk’s free broadband for residential customers – without the problems it experienced when it was unable to cope with demand.

“We have been quietly building the business up and are now putting our head above the parapet. I am confident the new product is going to be very popular – we have spent around £5m to make sure it is business grade.

“This move is in contrast to market conditions. With the country sliding deeper into recession, we see this as a key enabler in helping UK businesses to obtain a high quality business grade service and save money.

He said he was confident his team – which includes 500 in Warrington – will be able to cope with the demand.

“We have invested heavily in technical support, and during our soft launch we have been dealing with some high volumes.”

The group has spent two years and a £200m investment programme building a resilient ‘Next Generation’ national network, which now covers more than 80% of the UK’s users and today supports over 1.4 m broadband customers.

In total, Carphone Warehouse employs nearly 3,000 people in the North West.