NTL Announces Service Advancements

NTL, the cable company currently bidding for Newcastle United Football Club, announced a partnership today with 3Com, the US telecoms group. The venture will give the cable operator’s customers super-fast access to the internet with a new cable modem.

The new modems use the latest fibre rich cable TV networks which use digital signals and lasers to send high speed information, and users no longer need to wait minutes for complex graphics to download. NTL claim that the service will be twice as fast as any other currently available.

Peter Black, group engineering director at NTL, commented: “In selecting this standard NTL has ensured that its own customers can benefit from huge economies of scale. Our partnership with 3Com, the world’s leading modem manufacturer, will ensure that these benefits quickly flow to NTL customers.”

NTL also announced the launch of its first interactive television service, TV-Internet, this week. The first version of the service will offer a set-top box based service that combines Internet access, e-mail and telephony. According to NTL, this will enable the 16 million UK homes currently without access to the Internet a means of receiving a high speed service directly over their televisions.

Simon Grieve, marketing director of NTL Internet, said: “We are delighted to be able to deliver this unique service to the many UK homes who are currently unable to access the Internet due to the prohibitive costs and complexity of owning a PC.”

NTL: 01252 402 000