I am considering joining EE for home broadband, is there an email service?

[Pmatt]

I am considering joining EE for home broadband but have just seen a post about closure of the orange and freeserve email services. Does EE have an email service that provides an smpt server to send emails? Or is this why there are so many discount offers to join EE at present?

[Profile closed]

Correct, EE dropped all email services a few months ago.

They ‘claimed’ no-one was using it, though I find it very odd every other ISP provides an email service with all their broadband plans!

The choice is yours.

[Pmatt]

@Profile closedThank you for your reply.

You are quite right, I have never seen any other service provider who does not provide even a basic email service nor a direct email address to contact them.

It would explain why EE are pushing offers and TV adverts to try and garner business. It is rather bizarre that EE combined the services of Freeserve, FSMail, Wanadoo, Orange and several others and has decided to ditch the lot.

Fortunately I can take the opportunity not to join up for an 18 month contract and avoid the hassle.

[Profile closed]

There are plenty of other (better) providers out there offering just 12 month contracts for broadband or fibre.

IMHO 18 months is far too long for a broadband contract in this day and age.

[Paulosb]

I would not worry about ISP provided email.  A googlemail account for free is a better option.   If you do go for ISP provided free email it does tend to tie you to that ISP and then you end up stuck with them for your broadband  etc.    Going the Gmail route means you can swap ISPs without losing your precious email address.

[XRaySpeX]

No, EE no longer provides an SMTP for its users to use but usually you can still use your own email povider's or domain host's SMTP over EE's BB network. Please check out Email Closure: Are You Using Orange's SMTP to Send From Your Own Domain?

[Pmatt]

@Paulosb

Retaining my email address is not a problem as I already have my own domain with email redirection. When changing broadband I simply change the redirection address. I could use the hosted email service used by my domain provider but they charge around £5 a month which would negate some of the benefit of a cheaper broadband.

My concern about EE is that they acquired several of the cheap broadband services and then ditched them, closing off the free email. They now have abandoned email altogether. This doesn't seem like a very customer friendly service provider.

Presumably once they have bought and closed more of the smaller, cheaper providers they will rack up the prices. This seems similar to the common approach that BT and Vodafone appear to be using. Vodafone used to provide ASDA mobile and Talkmobile but have closed off these and no longer provides MNVO services, which means that if you are in an area where Vodafone masts provide the only service you must pay their prices.

Unfortunately Ofcom has been coerced by the mobile phone operators not to allow mobile roaming in the UK for UK registered phones, which means we are tied to the provider and their charges, limiting competition.

[XRaySpeX]

What cheap smaller broadband services has EE aquired? EE BB is just a progression thro' Freeserve, Wanadoo & Orange,

[Paulosb]

I can see EE's point - not many use the email service, and it is not a profit generator for EE.

People choose based on broadband services not email services.   The broadband market is competitive and that keeps prices down- I don't think we can ask for more than that.  Secondly email is effectively free - so in my view there is no worrying about anti-competitive practices.

 If there is a worry it is the merger of BT and EE - that does mean the broadband market is now dominated, and when accused of monopolistic aspirations the BT excuse was they didn't have a TV, internet and mobile offering - now they do.

[SpyderScanner]

I agree it is not essential to provide an email service: afterall when you move on, they invariably disconnect your email addresses. I use outlook.com and take it everywhere I go.

[Pmatt]

@XRaySpeX

I am not sure what you are querying in your response.

Freeserve, Wanadoo, Orange, T-mobile were all broadband or mobile providers that were subsumed into EE and the first three provided email also. I had a freeserve account for many years and when I moved away they continued to support a free email service until recently. It was a policy decision by EE to discontinue the Freeserve and fsmail services along with orange.

[Pmatt]

@SpyderScanner

Isn't Outlook the newer version of Hotmail which was discontinued following the acquisition by Microsoft? I used to have a hotmail.co.uk address but it is no longer accessible. As far as I can see at present the only free one that is reasonably certain to remain is Gmail though it may not always be free.

[XRaySpeX]

@Pmatt: Outlook.com (not Outlook which is a PC email client) is just M/S's latest name/version of Hotmail & Live.com Webmail, both of which email addys still work under Outlook.com. It is still free & likely to remain so.

[Pmatt]

@XRaySpeX

I fully appreciate the differences between Outlook.com, Outlook and even Outlook Express, however when Microsoft acquired hotmail the addresses were not automatically transferred and maintained. Many users found that their old hotmail.com or hotmail.co.uk were no longer available, hence the many reports of issues with them in the past and a requirement to re-register for the new service and accepting a new email address.

I would have thought that any broadband supplier should provide a viable smtp service even if they chose not to host a full email service. In the long term, should Ofcom ever get its act together which is unlikely, this would be one step towards identifying and tracing the routing of malicious email.

EE is clearly only interested in maximising income and not providing a service.

[XRaySpeX]

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@Pmatt wrote:

I would have thought that any broadband supplier should provide a viable smtp service

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So do I. even a full email service like all the major ISPs, but EE has foolishly chosen not to.

Only niche ISPs appealing to clued-up enthusiasts, as Be Unlimited (part of O2) used to, can afford not to. EE is certainly not such an ISP.

[SpyderScanner]

@Pmattas said before, it is unusual for an ISP to not provide an email address, but it is not essential. I signed up for an @outlook.com email address. I don't consider that EE is providing less of a service, ultimately they provide me with phone services and BB and at an extremely competetive price (if you shop around for discounts).

I recently migrated from TalkTalk and found the process extremely simple and comparatively painless. Obviously, I did this for VFM reasons and am not disappointed. You also are at liberty to do the same, just come back and tell us how you got on