Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2003/04/03/bt_confirms_adsl_price_cuts/

BT confirms ADSL price cuts

Fails to cut the spin

By Tim Richardson

Posted in Networks, 3rd April 2003 10:12 GMT

BT today confirmed that it is to cut the wholesale cost of its ADSL service.

As reported yesterday by The Register, the wholesale cost of the service is to fall by up to £2 per person per month for BT's standard consumer product.

The monster telco also confirmed that other back-end wholesale prices for ISPs would rise but insisted that, when evened out, ISPs would still be free to pass on a sizeable chunk of the price cut.

The price cuts are due to take effect from May 1 and one ISP at least, Eclipse Internet, has already signalled that it plans to review prices in light of today's announcement.

BT also said that wholesale prices aimed at business users would fall with costs for its 500kbs, 1Mbs and 2Mbs products cut by more than 50 per cent.

Said BT boss Ben Verwaayen in a statement: "These price cuts will benefit everyone from service providers to consumers and businesses and will ensure that the UK continues to have some of the lowest prices in Europe."

In addition, BT said that it had "radical plans" to bring mass market broadband within reach of 90 per cent of UK homes. The telco claims the plans are based on "technological breakthroughs and cost saving initiatives" and represents a "major advance from the current enabled footprint of 67 per cent".

However, peel away the many layers of spin and what's left is merely a decision to publish trigger levels for a further 600 exchanges as part of the telco's demand-led registration scheme.

If these exchanges are added to those exchanges that have existing trigger levels and if there was sufficient demand from consumers to convert them all to broadband then that would take ADSL coverage up to around 90 per cent, the telco said.

That's a heck of a lot of 'ifs'. ®

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