BT Pushes Broadband With Feature Rich Packages
BT Group has announced plans to unveil a raft of new services for broadband customers in an attempt to achieve its goal of achieving five million high-speed internet connections by 2006.
The telecoms giant believes its four exclusive features – Flexible Bandwidth, Rich Media, Communicator and Remote Management – will draw customers to its internet service over that of other providers, whilst giving more flexibility to those new to broadband.
Flexible Bandwidth will enable customers to temporarily boost the speed of their connection, allowing lower speed users access to more content, such as DVD quality video, previously unavailable through slower connections.
BT Rich Media is intended to showcase the best the internet has to offer to high-speed broadband users, with content provided by several producers including major record labels and football teams.
BT Communicator has been designed to enable customers to combine all their communications in one place, including phone calls made through the broadband connection, instant messages sent through Yahoo!, e-mails and text messages.
Meanwhile, the BT Remote Management System enables problems to be quickly diagnosed and rectified via the broadband connection and is intended to significantly improve technical support capabilities.
Commenting on the new features, Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail said: “We have shown innovation and drive in enabling almost universal access to broadband in the UK. Now we aim to push forward with the next crucial phase – giving people solid reasons to buy broadband by using the technology to transform their lives and the way they communicate.”
He added: “These new products and services provide broadband that is flexible and powerful enough to meet the customer’s every need. They demonstrate clearly that there is far more to broadband than speed, as there has to be if we are to realise mass-adoption far beyond the current two million mark.”
BT’s latest additions to its internet packages come at the peak of a broadband battle between Telewest, NTL, Tiscali and BT, with each party vying to increase their share of the market. Last month NTL became the first internet service provider to have over one million UK homes connected to broadband (see NTL Announces One Million UK Broadband Homes).
Elsewhere, Tiscali has announced the UK’s first pay-as-you-go broadband package, with customers paying £19.99 per month for set time or data allowances. The scheme is intended to undercut current offerings by other providers who require upfront payment regardless of actual usage.
Last month both Telewest and BT both launched cut price broadband packages, offering users high-speed access at less than £20 per month (see BT Launches New Cut-Price Broadband Service).
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.bt.com
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