It has been reported that the mobile network and broadband provider Orange has seen a drop in the number of customers taking its fixed line broadband service.

There are now many Internet service providers around that offer home broadband services, and in addition to the big communications giants such as BT and Virgin Media there are now other companies that offer home broadband such as mobile network providers like Orange. This has resulted in competition in the home broadband sector becoming increasingly tough.

Orange has enjoyed success with its home broadband service, but it appears that a number of factors have had a negative impact on subscriber numbers, which reportedly fell in the final quarter of last year. The figures show that in the last three months of 2009 the number of people subscribing to the Orange home broadband service fell by fifty nine thousand compared to the previous quarter, and this reflected a drop of sixteen percent.

A number of factors may have contributed to the drop in home broadband users for Orange. The recession has impacted heavily on household finances, and many people may have moved to a cheaper provider in order to save money. The rising popularity of mobile broadband and 3G enabled smart phones may also have impacted on the number of people subscribing to fixed line broadband with Orange.

The figures show that in the third quarter of last year there were nearly nine hundred thousand customers that were signed up for the home broadband service from Orange, but in the final quarter of the year this fell to around eight hundred and forty thousand subscribers.

Source – Top10-Broadband