BT cuts broadband pricing

BT's Wholesale division said today it was knocking £5 off of the price of its IPStream 500 ADSL service, bringing the monthly charge down to £30. The changes will take effect from September 1.

Paul Reynolds, chief executive of BT Wholesale, said the pricing initiative is part of BT Wholesale's ongoing commitment to stimulate demand for broadband services in the UK.

Other offers in the pipeline include a self install kit and a 'wires only' set-up, which allows customers to choose their own equipment. "We are eager to kick-start the market for these services," said Reynolds.

But serial entrepreneur Bob Jones said the root of the problem is still lack of availability rather than lower prices.

"It never seems to get through to BT that the poor take-up of DSL services is because of the woeful lack of availability rather than price", he said. "And let's not forget that Britain's shamefully low standing in the broadband rollout league is almost entirely down to BT's anti-competitive and sluggish enabling of DSL," he said.

But earlier this month BT started using rate adaption technology, which increases the reach of ADSL from the exchange. Typically, customers had to live within 3.5km of an exchange to sign up for ADSL, but rate adapted exchanges can offer the service to customers up to 5.5km away. The company is also upgrading exchanges to be ADSL compatible, claiming to be able to offer ADSL to 60 per cent of UK homes by September.

BT Wholesale claims that 179 resellers and ISPs have signed up for ADSL, translating into 70,000 ADSL end users in the UK today.

See also:

BT unveils further ADSL price cuts

New pricing to last for three months only  03 Sep 2001

Broadband ISPs pledge to cut UK prices

But BT needs to offer better service guarantees for UK businesses to bite.  01 Aug 2001

BT disconnects £8bn local loop bid

Blue chip consortium promises £500m a year investment in a bid to boost ADSL - but BT not impressed.  30 Jul 2001

ADSL for Beginners

Small businesses need high-speed internet access through ADSL services - so say the big telcos and internet service providers. But what is ADSL? We give you the basics in plain English.  22 Nov 2000

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