Wholesalers to the Public
There are wholesalers who sell directly to the public and these are utility and service companies. Unfortunately in the past these companies held monopolies and therefore could charge premium prices. Luckily restrictions were lifted and other companies could compete. Because these new companies had to build up a client base, prices began to topple, as the existing providers reduced their prices to hold on to their customers. Of course this cycle could not continue indefinitely and so prices stabilised for a while, before working their way back up as costs, especially those based on fossil fuels began to climb.
One of these service companies that have managed to keep their prices low are telecommunication companies, particularly mobile phone providers, although there is some suggestion of collusion to maintain that status quo. However, they all offer special deals on free calls and texts if you top-up by a certain amount in one go each month. This is great news for the teenagers who spend hour’s texting each other. Often in rural areas, the only viable option for a broadband connection is through a mobile provider, so again there are good deals to be found if you hunt for the best deal. A word of caution though, some providers may have better coverage in your area than others. Ideally you want to get the best possible signal, since this will dictate how fast your connection will be. Downloading on an EDGE connection will be much slower than on a HSPA one.
If you are in an area that is suitable for cabled broadband, then you will be inundated with offers, mostly bundles that cover telephone and broadband. Be aware that claims of speeds can be misleading, since they will often say 'speeds of up to'. This is simply a theoretical potential speed and is not a guarantee that you will receive anything remotely like that.
While gas and electricity suppliers are often pilloried, perhaps with some justification when it comes to a certain degree of ineptitude and several public relation gaffs, but the fact is that the world price of oil and gas has soared and it is obvious that those cost will be passed on.
One type of utility wholesale whose track record is abysmal is water companies. Ageing pipework that leaks away thousands of gallons a day, mismanagement of the reservoirs and lack of forward planning, all combine to have hose bans foisted upon the customers during even the shortest dry spell, not something you would expect in a country where the rainfall average is so high.
So, when you consider the wholesalers you do actually get to deal with, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing that you normally have to deal with retailers, who try to please the customer.