Telewest Communications Plc, the UK’s second-largest cable operator, said yesterday it is to launch the UK’s first live unmetered internet dialup service, and which it also claims will be at least two-thirds less expensive than any other service announced so far. SurfUnlimited, as the service will be known, has the backing of Microsoft Corp, 30% owner of Telewest and, with MSN, the provider of its ISP’s portal.
The announcement follows that by British Telecommunications Plc last week, when the incumbent telco said it would offer unmetered dialup calls for 35 pounds ($56) per month, starting in the spring. This price was for online time only, and did not include the subscription fees of internet service providers. End users fees of about 40 pounds ($64) have been touted.
Telewest’s SurfUnlimited offering is 10 pounds ($16) per month, all inclusive. Customers must have a Telewest residential phone line, and undertake to spend a minimum of 10 pounds per month on non-internet calls. The company is clearly banking on most residential users only having access to the internet at home at off-peak times (ie evenings and weekends), as SurfUnlimited will not be offered to business line subscribers, which tend to use more peak time. Regardless, there will be no time restrictions on usage.
A Telewest spokesperson described the price of BT’s Surftime unmetered offering as perverse in the extreme. BT said that although it had said how Surftime would be priced, it first needed to consult with the rest of the industry, and regulator Oftel. A reduction prior service launch now seems more likely, as companies will question why BT’s charging is so much in the wake of Telewest’s announcement.
Nobody from NTL Inc, the number one cable operator in the UK, was available to say how it would respond to the news.
