POP Telecom is one of a number of independent broadband providers with nationwide coverage. It offers standard and fibre deals via the Openreach network. All POP Telecom broadband packages include line rental and guarantee no price increases for the lifetime of your contract.
POP Telecom is based in Chelmsford, Essex. It was set up in 2011 and is part of a family-owned group of companies that have been trading for more than 25 years. There is very little information available about POP Telecom’s history or news on its website or elsewhere online, but it describes itself as having an ethos of ‘Simply Communicating by Communicating Simply’. It says it aims to make the journey of joining and benefiting from its broadband and landline products simple and clear.
It’s not one of the best-known names, but POP Telecom broadband speeds and prices are comparable with other providers who use the UK’s Openreach network. All its packages are truly unlimited and include telephone line rental. POP Telecom offers flexible 30-day rolling as well as fixed-term contracts, with no price increases for the entire length of your contract.
POP Telecom broadband speeds and prices are similar to other no-frills providers on the Openreach network. It could make your shortlist if you’re looking to go with one of the growing number of independent alternatives to the likes of BT, Sky and TalkTalk and don’t mind sourcing your TV elsewhere. Despite its claim of ‘Communicating Simply’, though, the company seems to offer little information about itself on its website and online reviews are quite mixed. The process of switching to POP Telecom is also less than clear, but it does offer flexible contracts with truly unlimited usage and its price guarantee will provide comfort for some.
"If your broadband speed is slowing you down never been simpler to switch to someone else who will guarantee your internet speed."
*Reviews on this page are randomly selected and sourced from an anonymous feedback survey of 7,681 broadband customers conducted by BroadbandDeals.com in July 2020.
POP Telecom offers ‘no frills’ broadband deals that are similar to many other providers that use the UK’s Openreach network. It has a range of home broadband packages built around standard ADSL and fibre with advertised speeds of 11Mbps, 35Mbps and 63Mbps. They all include unlimited internet usage with no traffic management to restrict speeds for certain activities at peak times.
Contracts are available from 12 to 24 months and the standard ADSL package is also available as a rolling 30-day ‘no contract’ broadband deal for those who don’t want a longer-term commitment. POP Telecom promises it won’t increase prices for the life of the contract – which may be why prices tend to appear a little higher for the longer contracts.
Telephone line rental is included with all POP Telecom broadband contracts and you can choose to bundle in calls. You’ll also get a free Wi-Fi router which will come via Royal Mail for a £9.99 delivery charge.
This is POP Telecom’s standard ADSL broadband and the one that’s most widely available to households across the UK. It offers an average speed of 11Mbps*, which would suit you fine if you're a light internet user, mainly using your broadband on one or two devices for sending and receiving email, browsing the web, checking social media and watching the occasional movie.
You can sign-up for a contract of 18 or 24 months, or opt for a 30-day rolling contract – also known as ‘no contract’ broadband – if you’d prefer not to be tied into a longer-term commitment.
This POP broadband fibre package is available on a 12- or 24 month-contract. It averages 35Mbps*, which would be a good choice for a slightly larger household where a few different devices are used for activities that include live streaming, video calls and online gaming.
This is POP Telecom’s fastest broadband, averaging 63Mbps*. This would be a good speed for a larger household where people are using several different devices at once and are more heavily into streaming video and TV, online gaming and making video calls. POP Telecom Superfast Fibre Infinity broadband is offered as a 12-month contract.
*Mbps stands for ‘megabits per second’ and is the unit used to measure broadband speeds. The higher the Mbps, the faster your internet connection and the quicker you’ll be able to download and upload data. When broadband deals are advertised, providers must state an average speed. This ‘average’ is based on what at least 50% of customers can get at peak times, generally between 8pm and 10pm each evening, so you should be aware that you could get speeds higher or lower than this.
If you’d like to know more about choosing the right broadband speed for your household, our guide to choosing broadband can help. Our guide to bits and bytes can also help you understand more about what Mbps means for your home broadband.
Where POP Telecom differs from the other broadband providers is in its range of tailored broadband packages. These include a deal for Over 60s that bundles in phone calls; Rural Broadband for customers in less densely populated areas where broadband speeds tend to be slower; Student Broadband; Broadband for Gamers; and Broadband for Landlords.
However, POP Telecom doesn’t seem to offer any special discounts or rewards with these tailored solutions – it seems to be a way of packaging their standard offerings to appeal to specific groups of people. So it might be worth checking out the standard POP broadband deals (as well as other deals available via our different providers) before you make your final choice.
POP Telecom also differs from many other no-frills providers by offering business broadband. However, this is pretty much the same as POP home broadband, except for providing a ‘premium’ landline.
POP Telecom business broadband packages don’t come with added extras like a static IP address and security that other providers such as BT and Virgin Media tend to offer with their business broadband deals, either.
All POP Telecom broadband packages include line rental. The company also offers a range of UK call plans that you can bundle in with your broadband. These include Weekend Minutes, Evening and Weekend Minutes and Anytime Minutes for calls up to 59 minutes to UK landline numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03.
For any calls longer than 59 minutes you will be charged at normal standard rates but you can avoid these charges by replacing the handset and re-dialling before you reach the 59-minute point.
POP Telecom doesn’t offer TV, so you’ll need to buy your TV package from another provider or use Freeview.
When you sign up to POP Telecom you’ll need to notify your current broadband provider. This means moving to POP Telecom isn’t quite as simple as with other providers on the Openreach network, who usually notify your provider unless you’re with Virgin Media, which uses its own network.
POP Telecom doesn’t make it clear in advance how long it will generally take to get you up and running, but once you’ve placed an order they’ll give you a date for when your service will go live. Your POP Telecom Wi-Fi router will be delivered via Royal Mail the day before your switch.
You can contact POP Telecom’s UK-based customer service team via live chat or phone. However, despite saying it is committed “to ensure the service you receive is second to none”, you can only speak to an agent between 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday, whereas many providers offer much longer hours or even 24/7. Technical support is available seven days a week from 9am until 6pm.