Telewest ups prices from 01/04

Telewest is to increase charges for its 1.7 million punters from April 1, although the price hike does not apply to all of the cableco’s services.

For Internet users, for example, the cost of Telewest’s broadband service remains unchanged.

However, its unmetered dial-up Internet service, blueyonder surfunlimited, increases by 20 per cent from £10 a month to £12 a month.

Telewest has also introduced a premium-rate phone number for its tech support – a service that was previously free.

And per minute charges for Telewest’s pay-as-you-go service also increases 50 per cent from 1p a minute to 1.5 p.

The company – which provides TV, broadband, internet and phone services - claims that despite the price rises Telewest still remains competitive.

David Hobday, sales and marketing director at Telewest Broadband said: "Our blueyonder internet services still provide some of the best packages available in terms of value for money and quality of service.

"We've made some price changes but on the whole our services still blow the competition away. Our best selling digital TV and phone package is £6 cheaper than the equivalent package with Sky and BT," he said.

Some of the price changes being introduced on April 1

* blueyonder surfunlimited (unmetered dial-up internet) increases from £10 to £12 per month
* technical support number for blueyonder dial-up customers - 50p per minute
* blueyonder pay-as-you-go service increases from 1p a minute to 1.5p a minute
* blueyonder broadband prices held

* analogue and digital packages to increase from between £1.00 and £2.50 per month, with some additional increases on optional premium channels.
* Front Row movies-on-demand on digital to increase from £2.99 to £3.50
* adult pay-per-night on digital will increase from £5 to £6

* Talk Unlimited fixed-fee phone package will remain at £25.00 per month
* 321 FREE phone tariffs held
* Phone line rental will increase from £9.60 to £10.00 per month
* Call charges to major mobile operators will decrease by around 5 per cent on average and 10 per cent in the evenings