British Telecommunications Plc can do no right in the eyes of some UK internet users – while the legacy of its metered pricing policy is attacked from all sides by users, industry and government (see separate story), its planned roll-out of ADSL internet access services was yet again attacked last Friday.
BT-bashing has become something of a sport in the UK of late, so when start-up net device developer Equiinet Ltd Friday set about trashing BT’s recent changes in the terms of its ADSL trial you could be excused for smelling a PR ploy. But BT’s decision to raise the subscription fee of its ADSL trials by 66% while reducing the access speed by 75% has angered consumers and ISP trialists alike.
Phase one of its trial, which began earlier this year, cost 30 pounds ($50) per month for a 2Mbps connection, while the phase two costs 50 pounds ($82) for a 512Kbps connection. Reselling ISPs such as Freeserve Plc are making the service available to consumers for around 60 pounds ($99), while warning that this is likely to change. BT has yet to reveal how its consumer service will be priced, but ISPs will have to follow its lead ahead of local loop unbundling in 2001. The incumbent telco, which can basically do what it wants until then, said the 60 pounds mark reflected a more realistic view of how an eventual consumer offering will be priced. Critics have observed that prices other countries including the US would balk at the expense of BT’s proposals.
Equiinet chairman Bob Jones said: BT should be ashamed of itself. By watering down its ADSL offering BT is narrowing the roads and is in danger of slowing internet traffic down to a crawl. BT is already months late in rolling out ADSL. If BT isn’t interested in ADSL it should get out of the way and let other operators handle it.
