Pipex has moved swiftly to cut the cost of its DSL service to less than £25 a month in the wake of today’s news from BT.

From April 1 Pipex will charge £23.44 (inc VAT) for its single-user Xstreme Solo customers. The price cuts will apply to existing and new customers, it said.

Earlier this month Pipex cut the cost of its service to a smidgen under £30 a month – a move it says generated 300 new users a day.

It is also standing by its £2 million offer to pay for the line conversion costs of its first 40,000 customers.

In a statement Pipex said: "The UK no longer needs to be the poor man of Europe for Broadband high-speed, always on Internet access. This long awaited price point is now set to make Broadband Britain fly."

However, BT’s decision to cut the cost of wholesale DSL to under £15 a month from April 1 has not been embraced by everyone.

Wayne Lochner, chief exec of Affinity Internet told AFX that this was a "promising first step" and called for wholesale prices to be cut still further to below £10.

Mr Lochner’s lukewarm response contrasts sharply to the Government’s response.

E-commerce minister, Douglas Alexander, described today’s announcement as "excellent news for consumers and businesses".

Telecoms regulator, David Edmonds, warned that any reductions by BT must be "fair and not anti-competitive".

Oftel is currently examining the figures but reckons that from information received already there is likely to be scope for a "significant reduction in BT's wholesale prices". ®

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