British Telecommunications Plc is targeting small business with BTAccess, a subscription-free internet access product based on its subscription-based BTConnect, with all the premium features unbolted and offered as pay-per-use extras. Grant Broster, head of BT’s business internet services, said the ISP will be aimed at the two-thirds of small businesses in the UK with less than 10 employees – about a million in number. Start-up CDs will be mailed out this week, offering potential users the chance to sign up to the free or paid for services, as well as offering additional BT internet services for the more net-aware. The software will also be pre-installed on Hewlett-Packard Co’s new Brio PCs for small business.
In terms of content, users will get news that can be tailored to selected vertical markets, advice on legal obligations for employers, market research reports, domain name registration and the like. As usual, BT will pay for the service by charging customers per minute for the dialup call. As the service is aimed at business hours users, the incumbent telco will benefit from the fact that peak-rate calls during the day are up to 4 times as expensive as weekends, when consumers tend to get online. Broster said that 65% of its current small business traffic is during peak hours.
