It’s only been a few days since I switched my ADSL service to a relatively new entrant in the Manx ISP market. They are a company called WiManx and have been responsible for introducing a number of innovative products to the Manx ISP market. In particular, they have brought to market a pre-WiMAX offering which is a “standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections (up to 75 Mb/sec) over long distances. WiMAX can be used for a number of applications, including “last mile” broadband connections, hotspot/mobile backhaul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for businesses.”
It’s interesting to watch WiManx compete in the industry. The Isle of Man suffers (if I can use this word) from a small population and some markets are particularly affected by a lack of scale that UK organisations enjoy. To date, the telecoms market has been one of these and the local telecom’s provider Manx Telecom have a monopoly in telecom-related provision. Manx ISPs are more expensive than UK ones (ADSL costs around £30 a month regardless of which provider you use) and the main reason allegedly is the cost the local telecoms provider charges for connectivity.
So what makes WiManx more attractive than the other local ISPs? The marketing strategy they are adopting for ADSL is one of Differentiated Defenders where they are operating in a relatively static market, but offering a perceivably better offering to their competitors. For example, they offer their broadband punters free VOIP provision with reduced calling charges and free local and UK landline calls. These free calls were what tipped the balance for me, as it does mean I can justify my ADSL by reducing my telephony costs. I’m delighted with the switch, as I’ve had superb service from WiManx, no outages to date and no throttling of my bandwidth. Will definitely recommend them to anyone who needs any connectivity.