BT Boosts Broadband Speeds At No Extra Cost
Broadband customers using British Telecom to access the internet will see the speed of their connections increase dramatically this month, as the company plans to increase the amount of bandwidth available without increasing the cost to users.
The internet giant announced the decision this morning, pledging to boost access speeds for its 1.4 million retail broadband customers, switching every customer to a new “super-fast standard”. Most of the company’s consumer and business customers will have the speed of their connections increased up to 2Mb, as much as four times faster than current speeds. Those with BT’s Broadband Basic package will see their line’s speed increase from 512k up to 1 Mb – an increase of 100%.
Explaining the decision, Ian Livingston, CEO of BT’s Retail division, said: “BT is about giving value for money. Today we are offering customers up to four times the broadband speed without charging a penny more. It will allow customers to get even more from their broadband services for entertainment, education or communication.”
The move will pave the way for several new services, including BT’s much-anticipated video-over-broadband product. The upgrade will also enable users to use multiple connections more effectively, with each computer in the home connected to, and sharing, the broadband connection. BT states that the speed bump will allow households to simultaneously connect a PC, laptop, games console, or other internet-enabled device to broadband without seeing a drastic reduction in speed.
Livingston added: “The internet is no longer simply about surfing the web or checking email. More and more people are enjoying online gaming, on-demand music and video over the net. BT is bringing applications of the future – such as video telephony – within reach of all our customers today.”
The new speeds will become effective for consumer customers from 17 February, and for business customers from 1 April. BT is this year expected to launch several bandwidth intensive products to extend its portfolio of services, including video-on-demand delivered via customers’ internet connections.
The company is understood to be developing a Freeview-style set-top-box to deliver the content, allowing users to receive free-to-air channels but also giving the option to purchase film and TV content via BT’s broadband network (see BT Boards On-Demand Bandwagon With Broadband Services).
Earlier this month BT unveiled a set of proposals to stimulate the UK’s telecoms industry, claiming that lower wholesale prices, faster broadband services and transparent, highly regulated access to its local network would provide faster and more exciting services to consumers and businesses. The proposals were made to industry watchdog, Ofcom, in a bid to stave off a forced break-up of BT’s wholesale and consumer businesses by the regulator (see BT Proposes Transparent Broadband To Avoid Break-Up).
BT also released its results for the third quarter of 2004, today, revealing a continued rise in broadband take-up, with the company signing up a record 813,000 broadband customers in Q3, with the total number of users at the end of 2004 hitting 4.1 million .
BT: 0207 469 2337 www.btplc.com
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