AOL challenges BT's 'no-frills' broadband

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
AOL intensified the level of competition in the UK's broadband market on Tuesday by launching a broadband package for £27.99 per month. This price point puts AOL's new broadband offering almost in line with BT's "no-frills" package, called BT Broadband. Unlike BT Broadband, the AOL package will also include features such as email and instant messenger, as well as broadband content. AOL UK chief executive Karen Thomson told ZDNet UK News that offering a broadband product at £27.99 meant potential broadband consumers could concentrate on choosing a package based on service, rather than price. "We've been tracking the trends in the broadband market, so we know that customer awareness of broadband is rising. We think this is the right time to launch a new product that takes price out of the equation for consumers," Thomson explained. BT Broadband, the "no-frills" product offered by BT Retail, only provides a basic high-speed connection. It costs £27 per month if paid for by direct debit or on a monthly payment plan, or £28 per month otherwise. AOL Broadband, Thomson said, offers much more than just connectivity. "This is a really compelling consumer package, including a variety of features such as email, instant messenger and innovative broadband content," Thomson said. This broadband content includes film previews, cartoons, and news and sports footage. At £27.99 a month, AOL Broadband is £2 per month cheaper than broadband from Freeserve and BTopenworld, but several pounds a month more expensive than offerings from smaller ISPs such as Pipex and Plusnet. BT has only just finished a £10m broadband awareness advertising campaign, which has been followed by a second major campaign for BT Broadband. "It's very important that BT are spending money to build the broadband market, but I'm determined that they will have competition in that market," said Thomson, who explained that AOL is planning adverts that will specifically push its broadband offering, as well as integrating it into its normal advertising activity. "BT's advertising will help to grow the market, and that helps everyone," Thomson added. Back in June, AOL launched a broadband package costing £34.99 per month, which some in the industry claimed was simply too expensive to appeal to consumers. Thomson declined to say how many broadband users AOL has already, but insisted that this earlier broadband product was designed more for early adopters as it included features such as access to AOL's flat-rate dial-up network when a user was away from their home PC. In a separate development, the government has confirmed that there are now one million broadband customers in the UK -- as predicted by ZDNet UK.
See the Broadband News Section for the latest on cable modems, ADSL, satellite and other high-speed access technologies, including a comprehensive guide to the best deals out there. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Telecoms forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Talkback

I live in Tenerife, Canary Islands. At the moment I have Telefonica online Broadband, but the service is in Spanish.
I am very interested in AOL but my telephone line is with Telefonica.
Is there a way for me to use AOL to replace Telefonica Broadband?.
Yours Sincerely Brian.

via Facebook 2 March, 2004 10:43
Reply

When I first got AOL they didn't even inform me that it had an 12 months contract. The customer service is very poor, as when I had many problems with AOL I had to ring them and I was put on hold for an hour. This problem consisted. My whole computer kept crashing and I lost alot of data from my computer. Everytime they would give the same solutions to my problems which were not useful at all, in the end I resolved the problems myself with the help of a friend. Now that my contract is over I am thinking of moving to Bulldog.

via Facebook 6 July, 2006 11:59
Reply

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

50 minutes ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

54 minutes ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 hours ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

3 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

4 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

4 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

4 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Moley

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

5 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
ramwellian

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

5 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?
BugStalker

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

6 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB
whs001

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

6 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Moley

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

6 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
45283

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

9 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA
Burn-IT

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

10 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs
ewallace

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

10 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
fgvrg56

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

12 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?
Ben Woods

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

13 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule
Marcus Karlsson

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

14 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule
apexwm

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

22 hours ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility
txtrainguy

Replying to an old topic that I'm currently facing with my CEO (who is on a Mac). Our servers are primarily Windows Servers, office is about...

1 day ago by txtrainguy on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility