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Telewest warns punters off cheap broadband deals

Beware 'stingy bandwidth restrictions'

Telewest reckons punters should beware of "stingy bandwidth restrictions" before signing up to ISPs making "extravagant claims" about their cut-price, high-speed broadband services.

Commenting on this week's announcements from Wanadoo and PlusNet offering 1Mb ADSL for under £20 a month, Telewest reckons these packages will "ultimately disappoint consumers already confused by a plethora of extravagant claims".

Telewest's gripe is that while the headline figures concerning speed and price sound attractive, the strings attached to these offers will ultimately disappoint punters. In a statement, Eric Tveter, Telewest president and COO said: "Hype over lower pricing and faster speeds is being used as a fig leaf to hide inadequate services with heavy restrictions. A low-cost 1Mb service with a 1Gb or 2Gb monthly cap defeats the whole point of faster broadband."

A spokeswoman for Wanadoo dismissed Telewest's comments insisting that its usage allowance "is enough for nine out of ten of our users".

"Almost three thousand signed up [for Wanadoo's 1Mb service] on the first day - it's what punters want," she said.

Marco Potesta, Marketing Director at PlusNet said: "What we are doing is making broadband more appealing for those people who are used to spending £10-£15 per month on dial up internet access. We are not capping anyone's usage and we have lots of account options included uncapped so, when people have learnt how useful broadband is on a "Lite" account, they can enjoy the full potential of a broadband conenction and choose the right account type to match their ongoing usage needs."

He added: "If Telewest opened up their cable network with a wholesale offering, we could then show them how a service can be delivered. ®

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