BT Launches New Cut-Price Broadband Service
BT Group has reduced the price of its cheapest broadband service to less than £20 per month in an attempt to further increase the take-up of high-speed internet access across the UK.
The telecoms giant yesterday announced the launch of a new cut-price service aimed at attracting the large numbers of dial-up customers normally put of by the high monthly cost of a broadband connection.
BT Broadband Basic will offer the same high-speed service as BT’s other broadband packages and will run at up to ten times the speed of a normal connection. The service is designed to make video clips, music downloads and online gaming more practical.
Duncan Ingram, managing director of BT Openworld, said: “The basic package provides a simple to use, low-cost entry level service but with the equivalent speed of our other broadband products – unlike some of our competitors who offer so-called low cost broadband packages which, at best, run at half the speed of BT’s basic broadband service.”
He added: “We have broken through the £20 price barrier which, combined with the fact that more than 85% of UK homes and businesses are now connected to broadband enabled exchanges, means there is an even greater incentive for people to join the ever growing BT Broadband community.”
The launch on the new low cost package is part of BT’s ongoing initiative make high-speed broadband internet services available to ninety percent of the UK population by the summer. The company will announce a number of developments over the coming weeks to help it hit five million connections during 2006 (see Broadband To Be In Five Million Homes By Year-End).
Cable operator Telewest has also responded to growing consumer demand for more affordable high-speed internet access with a new entry level broadband service for just £17.99 per month. The 256k product is aimed at users who want a continues connection that doesn’t tie-up the phone line.
Chaid Raude, director of internet services at Telewest Broadband, said: We’re expecting demand from people who have previously considered broadband a big leap from dial-up and now getting onto the first rung of the broadband ladder will become a no-brainer.”
Broadband take-up has risen significantly over the last year with increasing competition amongst internet service providers helping to drive down prices. The latest official figures show that number of UK households and small businesses with a high-speed internet connection has passed the key 3 million milestone (see UK Broadband Connections Pass Key 3 Million Mark).
A recent study from Continental Research shows that broadband penetration will continue to rise and almost 5 million UK households are expected to have a high-speed internet connection by the end of this year (see Broadband To Be In Five Million Homes By Year-End).
BT: 0207 469 2337 www.btplc.co.uk
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