AOL Enters UK Broadband Market
AOL has become the latest major UK internet service provider (ISP) to enter the broadband market with the launch of its new high-speed internet service.
At £34.99 per month the AOL Broadband product is more expensive than the current market rate of £30, which was established when BT Wholesale cut its prices earlier in the year. However, the company, which is the UK’s second largest ISP behind Freeserve, is offering customers a broadband modem for £25 until 15 July, undercutting most of its competitors.
AOL is hoping to convert large numbers of its 1.7 million flat-rate subscribers to the new service, which offers users exclusive access to AOL Time Warner’s range of multimedia content. This means that customers will be able to view trailers for films like Harry Potter, full length Cartoon Network programmes and video news from CNN and the BBC.
Karen Thomson, CEO of AOL UK, said: “AOL Broadband will be everything UK consumers have ever wanted from the online medium. It combines all the benefits of high-speed internet access with the hallmarks of the trusted AOL brand.”
Competition within the broadband market has become fierce over the last few months. BT unveiled its “no frills” broadband service in April, hoping to generate 500,000 new connections by next summer (see BT’s ‘No Frills’ Service Ups Broadband Stakes) and last month Freeserve launched a multimillion-pound marketing campaign to drive uptake of its new high-speed internet access product (see Freeserve Unveils Broadband Campaign). Telewest also recently cut the price of a three month trial of its blueyonder broadband internet service (see Telewest 1Mb Trial To Challenge BT In Broadband) and back in March NTL launched a broadband product for residential users, which it claimed to be the UK’s “fastest ever” (see NTL Unveils UK’s Fastest Internet Service).
According to Oftel, this increasing competition is driving the growth of the sector and the communications regulator now estimates that broadband internet access is growing at a rate of 20,000 new connections a week (see Broadband Britain Is Underway).
AOL: 01268 530919 www.aol.co.uk
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