How locking in your Broadband could save you money

One of the keys to small business success is accurate budgeting. If you know exactly what’s coming in and going out, you can plan for future growth or prepare for upcoming bumps in the road.

What you don’t want is unexpected surprises, like a sudden hike in connectivity costs. When your cash flow is limited, budgeting shocks can cause real disruption. Hiring plans might have to be put on hold or belts tightened in other areas.

There’s no need to worry about that with Zen. Our contract price promise for small business customers means that, unlike some of our competitors, we’ll never increase the price you pay for connectivity in the middle of your contract. The price you’re quoted when you first sign up to Zen business broadband will be the price you pay for the duration of the contract, no ifs and no buts. That’s true regardless of the connectivity package you take from us.

If you’re a Zen broadband customer, you’ll automatically be benefiting from our contract price promise. But it’s worth checking when your contract is up for renewal, so you can lock in a new price before costs rise.

Sidestep broadband price rises

There are two reasons to lock in your connectivity costs sooner rather than later.

1) The great British switch-off is creeping up

The old copper landline network (officially known as the Public Switched Telephone Network - PSTN) is being switched off in January 2027, and services based on the old technology will stop being sold long before that.

Tens of thousands of businesses still need to be migrated from the old PSTN network to a new all-IP (digital) alternative. As the switch-off deadline gets closer, not only will the old network continue to deteriorate, but the demand for engineers and other switching resources will grow. Businesses that leave it till the last minute may face delays and spiralling costs.

Planning your transition now can help spread costs more comfortably and avoid the price surge that will come with a last-minute rush.

2) Openreach is hiking prices on legacy technology

In addition, Openreach, the UK’s digital infrastructure provider, is expected to raise rental prices on legacy technology to encourage everyone to migrate to the new all-IP connectivity as soon as possible. If you’re on a contract with Zen, our price promise will protect you from any sudden broadband price hike. Even if you’re not ready to upgrade to new all-IP connectivity now, locking in a price for the next 12 or 18 months will protect you from any nasty surprises until you are.

And of course, if you choose to upgrade to a future-proof connectivity solution sooner rather than later, that price will be locked in too.

Upgrade and save

Our advice is to check your contract and, if you’re anywhere near the end, use this opportunity to upgrade to future-proof connectivity. It could save a lot of unnecessary hassle and cost later on. And you’ll benefit from Zen’s contract price promise with your new solution, too.

If you can’t upgrade just yet, then re-contract with us as soon as you can, and lock in your costs before Openreach pushes up the prices of ADSL or FTTC business broadband. That’s likely to happen this year, so don’t delay if you can avoid it.

The other benefit of acting now is peace of mind. The end of PSTN means you have to migrate to all-IP business broadband at some point, so why not do it as soon as your current contract ends? That way, you can direct your mental energy to more important matters, safe in the knowledge that Zen’s contract price promise means there are no nasty surprises round the corner.