Broadband suppliers offer free laptops

Carphone Warehouse and Orange launch promotions to lure customers into two-year contracts

Carphone Warehouse is hoping to encourage longterm broadband contracts

Dell has signed a deal with Carphone Warehouse that will see the retailer giving free Inspiron notebooks to its broadband customers to try to secure loyalty.

The promotion requires users to sign up a minimum two-year contract with AOL Broadband, at a cost of £19.99 a month. Customers are then given a voucher which can be exchanged for a base model Inspiron, worth around £500.

In a similar move, Orange has announced it will offer £300 off any laptop at retail chain Curry's. Applicants must agree to pay either £14.99 or £19.99 per month over a two year period.

The total cost for a £19.99 package over 24 months is £479.76.

The Orange offer is already available to the public, while the Carphone Warehouse promotion will launch in September.

The success of both strategies will be determined by customer perceptions of the services provided, says Ovum broadband analyst Jonathan Coham.

'Two years is a lengthy contract term, but to make this low-margin package profitable in the long term, Orange and Carphone Warehouse will need to effectively convert these low-end customers, to loyal, high-spend customers,' said Coham.

Carphone Warehouse acquired AOL UK's ISP business in October 2006, at a cost of £370m.